Liberation
by AugustinianFrog
Summary: The Regulator grandmaster knows he is in his final days as a great conflict looms ahead for his Liberators. It could undo all the work they have done. Meanwhile, rumors tell of something that could bring more than they could have ever hoped for...
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: Well, let's call it a trilogy. This story may be completed much slower than the other two but I aim to get it done. If updates don't happen for a month at a time, someone yell at me. However, understand that SundayWinterChild is also editing these. (Please send a thanks her direction.) Also, since I foresee this to be a rather lengthy and complicated final installation, I'm opening up the floor for you readers. Basically, if you ever have a question for any of the characters, their back story, likes, what not, send it my way. I will either answer it in the story or at the very least compile them into a good interview at the end. This is so that you can help me develop the characters. I can't think of everything myself._

_Anyway, what belongs to Bethesda render unto Bethesda._

_

* * *

_

_**Liberation**_

...The memories of days long gone by...

_"They call us the Liberators. That's Sven over there in the padded duster and flame tank. We call him Slightly Psycho Sven for a reason. The giant behind me? Carl Thompson, our heavy weapons expert. That's James and Julia Vanderbraun over there, both of them are medics but James is our marksman while Julia gives us electronic support. Myself? I'm Adam Anders. Trust me, if you're on my bad side, you won't see me and if you do, it's already too late…oh, and that's Rat over there. He's our mascot…" _

…

"_Are you absolutely certain this robobrain is set to safely watch over our children?" _

"_Of course I am, Julia. Sven is positive himself." _

"_That's not very reassuring, James." _

"_I only let him program the combat part of its wiring." _

"_And that's suppose to make me feel better?" _

"…_All right, you got me there, but I'm certain it's ready to go, honest!"_

…

"_Squeak!" _

"_What is wrong, Rat?"_

"_Squeak!" _

"_Where are you leading me off to- Holy crap!" _

"_James, what's wrong?" _

"_Erm…seems like Isaac got his hands on a laser pistol…" _

"_The boy is only two years old! How did he do that? Why isn't that machine watching him?" _

"_Because it's currently got its hands full making sure Lowell and Evelyn don't go near Isaac." _

"_Well, get over there and get the weapon out of his hands before he hurts himself!" _

"_I understand why you're hysterical, trust me I am too…I'm just trying to figure out how to do this without anyone getting hurt." _

"_Squeak!" _

"Rat, why_ weren't you watching him better?"_

"_Squeak!" _

…

"_Hahahahaha! I figured it out!" _

"_Figured what out, Sven?" _

"_Irradiated napalm, Carl! Irradiated napalm!" _

"…_Why would you want irradiated napalm? Wouldn't the burning kill off anything before the radiation could do any damage?" _

"_Don't you get it? You get actual radiation from the fire and atomic radiation from the…nuclear stuff! It's double the radiation!" _

"…_It seems like I keep learning how disturbing you really are…" _

"_You know what's really disturbing? The fact I did not think of this earlier." _

…

"_Well, you got our attention. Is there a reason you wanted us all here, Francis?" _

"_Yes, Adam. Simply put, I've thought about this for a long time and I've decided to launch a pretty ambitious project." _

"_Which one of your projects has not been ambitious? This is the very same way you got together to send us to New York City." _

"_Yes, well, this time I'm sending you guys to Albany. We're going to rebuild the city." _

"…_Oh…well, that's going to be fun…" _

"_And I'm going to have to separate you guys on different teams." _

"_What?" _

…

"_Mother?" _

"_Yes, Isaac?" _

"_Why doesn't Rat have a name?" _

"_He does have a name…Rat." _

"_But what about a real name? Why doesn't he have one?" _

"…_I don't know…we've just called him Rat ever since we met him." _

"_But what if he wants a real name?" _

"_He seems perfectly happy being called Rat. Rat, do you like being called 'Rat?'" _

"_Yip!" _

…

"_I don't understand this Francis. A year ago you sent us to Albany with a force of other regulators. You had everyone working together to rebuild the city. Carl was tasked with helping my wife keep the waterways clear around the city. James, Julia and Sven have worked on the infrastructure. Now you're grooming Mark to take your place." _

"_You're wondering why I've kept you on missions." _

"_Bluntly put, yes." _

"_Adam, I'll be honest with you. You're a good trainer and field leader. You have no interest in heading this organization and all your skills are in eliminating of targets. __You're still an assassin through and through._ Sure, you have people skills and that's why I'll send you on a diplomatic mission when I can, but none of them have turned up yet. Well, I'm right, aren't I?" 

"…_Yeah, you're right…" _

…

"_Daddy?" _

"_Yes, Evelyn?" _

"_What happened to your hand? Why is it metal?" _

"_I lost my arm to a monster, that's what happened." _

"_Like a super mutant?" _

"_No…something bigger." _

"_But how did you get a robot hand? Did you fix it yourself?" _

"_No, mother fixed that for me." _

"…_So mom really does fix everything." _

"_Sort of. Though occasionally I fix her dinner." _

"_So why did mom fix your arm for you? Did you ask?" _

"_You know…why don't you ask your mother that?" _

…

"_Sven, do you suppose you could somehow recreate an internal combustion engine?" _

"_Why do you ask, Francis?" _

"_Because that was a means of transportation before the fusion powered cars we see on the roads everywhere." _

"_But what is an internal combustion engine?" _

"_It's basically a large metal block with cylinders that allow for a contained explosion which spins a shaft that moves the wheels." _

"…_Contained…explosion…?" _

"_What do you not understand?" _

"_Why would you ever, EVER, want to contain an explosion?" _

"_Clearly this conversation is going to go nowhere." _

"Well, c_learly the same must have happened to the internal combustion engine, as they stopped using it." _

…

"_Um…James…Julia…I got a problem…" _

"_Problem, what kind of- HOLY CRAP, Carl! You're leg is about to freaking fall off!" _

"_I gathered that, James…bad run with a bunch of pirates out on the river." _

"_Julia, hurry and get something to stop the bleeding and stabilize him. Carl…you do realize we're going to have to amputate this leg?" _

"_That's why I came to you guys. You think Julia can do to my leg what she did to your arm?" _

"_Maybe." _

"_Oh good…cause now not only can I slam things with my hammer, I'll be able to kick things with my metal leg." _

"_Let's just concentrate on getting your real leg off for the moment." _

…

"_James, are you sure we're making the right decision?" _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Sending the kids off to the Brotherhood? Having them become knights?"_

"_Julia…we've had this discussion numerous times."_

"_I know, I know. Yes, it'll be dangerous but it's safer there than here in Albany…but still…perhaps we could teach them to be Regulators or doctors or something?"_

"_And be stuck out here with poor medical technology and little protection?" _

"_I know, I know! James, I'm their mother. It's my job to feel like I need to be around to protect them."_

"_I love them just as much as you do, sweetheart, but remember, Isaac's 17 and the twins are 16. They can watch after themselves for a bit." _

"_I know…"_

"_Honey…we've taught them well. It's hard for me too but we need to get them to take off for a bit now." _

"_I know…I also know that you're holding me now because you know that makes me feel a little bit better." _

"_Would you rather I do otherwise?" _

"_No, but I'm still going to hate you for it. For the moment at least." _

"_I love you, sweetheart." _

"_I love you too." _

…

"_How many years has it been? We were once heroes. Now I'm reduced to an assassin, an exalted blade for hire. Sure, a good blade for hire but a hired blade no less. My friends and I have been spread apart, turned into teachers trying to salvage something I'm pretty certain has been completely lost." _

"_And what is that, Adam?" _

"_The world before the bombs fell, Alexandra. I know Francis has been working so hard to bring civilization back, trying to make this world a better place but…is it really possible?" _

"_Isn't that why you and your friends are known as the Liberators? You were working to make the world a better place?" _

"_Why does it seem like a fool's errand?" _

"_Seems like you have all been just the people for the job." _

"_Thanks, honey." _

"_You're welcome, dear." _


	2. Chapter 2

"_To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."_

-attributed to King Solomon

"_And God's is the east and the west: and wherever you turn, there is God's countenance." _

-Surah 2:115

"_Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'" _

-Revelation 21:5

* * *

It is said that time laughs at all things. It is also said that there is nothing new under the sun. Perhaps the world's now truly desolate form is just the literal manifestation of how broken things were before. Man still deceives, exploits and kills himself on a regular basis. The nuclear baptism merely laid bare the pretension and deception that was upheld before that. However, just as there have always been sinners, there are always a few saints still out there. Perhaps they were sinners once themselves and in some cases they may still be. Either way, saints have to come from some place and perhaps the sky is not the best place to look to. The last time something big fell from the heavens, it was a rain of atomic fire.

Like a forlorn monument on the broken landscape, the ruins of what had once been the city of Albany in New York state still stands after all these years. 200 years ago it was mostly spared from the atomic holocaust but a little over 20 years ago another petty battle nearly wiped it off the map and flattened what little remained. The only thing that stands are two skyscrapers at the edge of the city that had somehow escaped the scourge of the battle. The local caravan runners have come to call these two buildings "The Gate" for lack of better name. Indeed, it always is the first thing to greet traffic coming from the south.

And it was indeed the first thing two travelers found waiting for them as they moved up north to Albany.

"Well, there it is. We're almost there." A young woman announced to her travelling companion, as she hefted her bolt action rifle. She wore hardened leather pads, the only protection she could afford. Her compatriot seemed to be a rather skittish man glancing around every which way.

"Didn't they say that there were still super mutant patrols that went through the area?" the man sputtered.

"Well, yes but most of the super mutants were cleared out years ago. It's just isolated patrols of them that go through the area and they haven't been in the city for years, at least from what I heard. We're probably safe considering how close we are to The Gate." The woman reassured.

"If you say so…" the man muttered.

"Wait! On second though-"

The woman's warning was cut short by a hostile gunshot.

"Die human!" a towering super mutant roared, armed with a rifle of its own. Some four more of the mutants were behind it, all of them armed with various weapons.

"Hit the dirt!" the woman hollered as both she and the man dived into a depression in the ground.

"I thought you said we were safe!" the man shouted.

"Well, I thought wrong! I don't see you fighting back anyway!" the woman screeched.

"Because I'm only armed with a pistol. What good will that do? You're the former body guard and the one with the rifle!" the man argued.

"Oh for the love of-" the woman flinched when a bullet kicked up a a pebble from the dirt and whizzed dangerous close to her head.

"We're all going to die." the man whimpered.

"You are all food, huma-"

They heard a sickening thud.

"What's going on up there?" the woman asked.

"We're gonna die…we're gonna die…we're gonna die…" the man sputtered.

Several more sickening thuds.

Her companion still whimpering beside her, the woman stuck her head above the depression to get a better look. She quickly dived back into the dirt upon seeing the sight before her.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the woman hissed.

"Why? What now?" the man moaned.

"Something killed those super mutants!" the woman whispered desperately. The man looked at her blankly.

"Killed them? Then aren't we safe?" the man asked.

"They were all shot through the head and we didn't hear a single gunshot. There's a sniper out there with a silenced weapon. They're probably watching us right now. Don't move. Maybe we can wait this out." The woman explained, popping open the chamber of her rifle to make sure she had a round in it.

And so they waited, several long agonizing minutes.

"Squeak?"

Both the man and woman jumped when they heard that noise. However, looking at the mouth of the depression, they were surprised to see a rather friendly looking rat sitting on its haunches staring back at them, head tilted in curiousity.

"Squeak?" the rodent let out again.

"H-hey there little guy." The woman sputtered.

"Squeak!"

"Is it dangerous?" the man asked.

"He looks friendly to me." the woman shrugged.

"Yip!" the rat chirped, becoming a little more excited now.

"I-I guess it's safe now." The woman shrugged.

Soon enough, the two travelers were out of their hole following the large rat as it hobbled along, leading them towards The Gate. When they got within the ruins, the Rat seemed to signal that it was going to leave them, sitting at the threshold of a weathered doorway that led into one of the skyscrapers.

"Well, thanks for letting us know it was safe. You're a good little rodent." The woman chuckled, petting the rat before giving it a handful of brahmin jerky. The rodent squeaked in gratitude, took the food in its mouth and scampered off into the building.

"See, we made it safely." The woman announced to her friend as they continued on towards Albany.

Meanwhile, still carrying its snack, the rat wandered up several flights of stairs, occasionally stumbling or limping at moments as it was certainly old for a rat, but still spry enough to go on adventures when it wasn't too tired. Granted, it was getting tired from all this stair climbing. No matter.

Eventually, the rat found its way into a familiar room where it settled down on a makeshift nest. Finally lounging down, the rat sat on its haunches again and began enjoying its snack.

Off to the side of the room, two men glanced at their rodent visitor. Both of them carried sturdy if obviously hand crafted long rifle, dark silencers coming out of their muzzles with large scopes gleaming on their tops.

"Unbelievable. We do all the work and he gets all the treats."

"_Squeak!" _

"Yes, I know you're very happy about it." the same man replied.

"Hahaha, Rat has always been smart like that, dad."

"Oh, I know that, Isaac. Rat certainly has had quite the racket going for the past 20 years now and shows no signs of stopping." James Vanderbraun replied.

Rat said nothing except to continue to chomp on his snack. However, his snout certainly seemed to be turned into a smug smile.

Later that evening, James and Isaac Vanderbraun returned back to their home in the center of what was the small but slowly growing city of Albany. All around it was resurrected from being completely destroyed in a battle some 20 years ago. James noticed a familiar figure in the street in front of his house.

"Another good day, boys?" Julia asked. Both her husband and her adopted son carried the custom made marksman rifles that the patchwork production plant in their very own city produced. Perched on Isaac's shoulder, Rat held on comfortably but firmly. Although the rodent was getting a bit too old to walk on his own all the time, his love of adventure had not diminished over the years.

"Squeak!" Rat chirped.

"Well, I see Rat had a good day." Julia chuckled.

"Not a bad day. Did two travelers managed to make it into town okay today?" James asked, pecking Julia on the forehead.

"Yes, a man and woman. Got straight to work helping in the production plant." Julia replied.

"Seems to be where everyone is going these days. Guess these Excelsior rifles are getting fairly popular." Isaac stated, hefting the rifle he held onto.

"Well, it's been a busy day. Get inside, dinner is waiting." Julia said, showing the two inside.

Sven stepped out of the makeshift production plant that had become the main industry of Albany along with mirelurk fishing. The production plant itself was an idea of Francis, an assignment he gave to James. All along, Francis knew in the back of his mind that Albany was going to have to produce some kind of industry. He also gave him the task of trying to find something for it to produce. James and Sven had done their best to salvage smelting and forging parts and machines which almost miraculously appeared out of the ruins. Then it was a matter of doing research on trying to figure out how to get them up and running. That in itself was beyond a miracle but it worked. Then there was the matter of finding a product to produce. After some research, investigating the metals they had on hand and scrounging over old blueprints, James came up with the design for what had become to be known as the Excelsior rifle, a bullpup marksman rifle fielding a .308 round with surprisingly little recoil thanks to its design and shock absorbing system.

But it became Sven's job to make sure things kept running, along with the heating systems. The pyromaniac sighed before breathing, more of gasping, through his filtration mask. The man's blast helmet seemed to be on at all times these days. Years of working with explosives and smoke inhalation had done a number on his lungs but he still managed to find the strength to run when he needed to.

Sure, working in the fire of the production plant wasn't the same as explosions but you had to learn to live with what you got. Sven understood it was not conducive for a growing city to be constantly wracked with explosions. The glowing fire of the plant was the best he was going to get.

Tentatively taking his helmet off, he noticed the sudden shock of unfiltered air occasionally set him into a coughing fit as of late. Sven took a deep, calming breath to relax his lungs before heading off towards his favorite hangout at dinner time, the Vanderbraun resident.

James, harkening back to the stone dwellings of his hometown, had thrown together a hybrid house of rocks and concrete blocks, cemented with a rudimentary mortar. It wasn't something that was going to stand the test of time, but for a dwelling it would certainly last within their lifetime.

Without bothering to knock, Sven stepped through the door, suddenly realizing it still felt weird without the weight of a fuel tank to put down. Some habits just did not die very easily. Inside, he found Carl relaxing at what had become the stove pit, sitting in a chair as he stirred a boiling pot of, what else, mirelurk meat. Rat was waiting anxiously by the fire, watching the steam rise from the water. James and Isaac were busy cleaning their own personal Excelsior rifles while Julia was preparing for tomorrow's choirs, which mostly medical keeping for the sick and wounded within the city.

"So how was your day at the assembly line, Sven?" Carl asked.

"Same as usual. Not enough sparks, not enough molten metal. Why do we have to do so much…stuff that doesn't require fire?" Sven complained.

"I feel like we've had this discussion before." James said as he rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I know we have. At least the most fun I have is in the smelting area." Sven sighed.

"There you go. I think everything is almost done so you can open the door, Julia." Carl announced.

"Very well." Julia said before promptly opening the door. They were immediately greeted by a small crowd of the town's more destitute, including a few orphaned children.

"All right, line up, one at a time. You'll all get your share." Julia announced sternly.

Her son and husband helped her keep order though it was really more for keeping things organized. This was the same routine every day. Take care of the town's more desperate people. Maybe they weren't all swimming in caps but at least no one went to bed with an empty stomach.

Rat was content with the attention of the children and squeaked happily.

"Children, get in line first and eat before you play with Rat." Julia told them firmly. They begrudgingly followed her instructions, grumbling as they slowly shuffled back into the line.

"You really don't help out in these things, do you?" Julia muttered to Rat.

"_Squeak." _

In the original Liberator vault, now turned into the headquarters for the New York regulators, an elderly Francis Garret sat down at his desk and pored over the information in front of him yet again.

He was now in his mid 80s. He was certainly more gaunt than when he first assembled the team that came to be known as the Liberators. Maybe even just ten years ago he could still be a force to reckon with in a fight but now even his weakening strength was starting to mess up his aim with his plasma rifle. The only thing he had left was his tenacity which had probably kept him alive all these years as well as a dream which would not die. In fact, his only seemed to be gaining life.

The problem was, although the dream did not age, he and his fellow regulators did. He knew he was well into the twilight years of his life. Mark certainly had passed his prime, being the real commander of the Regulators now, having based himself in New York City. Cindy lost an eye and had no real depth perception now. She now lived close to Sven in Albany, helping him with the explosives production. Those two had an odd relationship. Francis felt his heart skip a beat at the mere thought of it.

Sven was now having respiratory problems and although his drive may have mellowed a bit, he was still messed up in the head. Carl had lost everything below his right knee and depended on a prosthetic similar to the one James had. Julia never truly recovered from her bout with the Red Plague some twenty years back. Her time in the field had been limited afterwards and had altogether ceased some ten years ago, simply helping with the administration of the new town of Albany. James was starting to develop early onset arthritis in some of his joints, his phantom pain, though certainly dulling, had never truly left him.

Worse of all was probably Adam. Perhaps the old Liberator leader, though understanding his placement fall as remaining out in the field as an assassin,had become bitter. He started to work alone more and more until he really only worked with others when he trained new regulators or simply helped other regulator assassins hone their skills.

This did not help the more glaring problem that was starting to develop. The use of stealth boys and their negative side effects were starting to show. It was not clear yet but they could tell that Adam's personality was changing. He was sullen more often and Alexandra noticed that her husband seemed to teeter on the edge of paranoia at times. There were even instances where it seemed he had completely blacked out and did not remember things even happening. His short term memory was starting to show cracks though his long term memory was still solid.

Francis wondered what he was going to do. All of his old and reliable aces were starting to become worn and faded. Meanwhile, all his undrawn cards were wildcards and some cards he used to have had simply fallen from the table.

And now, more than ever, the stakes were at their highest. Twenty years ago there was a lot to be lost, a lot to be gained. But now, just when he knew his game was coming to an end, the largest pot had fallen on the table. Francis felt himself seated at an ethereal poker table. The proverbial angel called Death waited off to his side with his scythe, a grim reminder to the regulator that his time was running out.

And yet Lady Fate had waited until now to throw in her chips and go all in.

Francis felt himself stare her straight in the eye and gave a crooked, toothless smile. Lady Fate kept up her smirk. Death watched on with his eternal, frozen grin. No matter what happened he stood to gain.

Francis felt himself match the stakes and prepared his hand. These would be his final rounds but, God help him, he was going to make them count. The cards were drawn, the stakes were raised. He could lose everything he had worked for in over 60 years.

And what he stood to gain would be not just for him, but would be for far more than anyone could imagine.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note:__ Well, this should get the ball rolling. Remember, I'm going to need help developing characters so please, feel free to ask any of them a question that may or may not have been bothering you the whole journey. Don't expect the next update to be too soon. _

_Thanks for all the encouraging words so far and for all your hard work, beta reader. Blessings_

_

* * *

_

**"_Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. _**

**_Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth."_**

**-Dhammapada**

* * *

Their opponents were relentless. They sometimes hunted in packs but even a solo one was crafty enough. They came from the dark, emerging from the most unexpected corners. When you might have thought you were safe, they would come and prove you wrong. The mighty Brotherhood of Steel group in New York City had faced many tough, highly advanced and ruthless enemies but this was just a different breed of resistance altogether.

They usually were about three and a half feet in length, four if you included the tail and came to about half a foot in height. Usually, they were hungry. Finally, they were always furry.

But most diabolical of all was the fact that to most human eyes, they were cute.

Initiate Hardings bellowed at a New York Rat, the rodent clearly wanting to get at their packs which was loaded with their rations. Most people would not expect it but in this rather desolate part of the city, the New York Rats learned that most of the tin can men usually carried extra food with them. Otherwise, the rats were harmless and never intentionally tried to hurt anyone.

They just wanted the backpacks.

"Oh shoot, someone get this one off of me!" Hardings shouted. Just when he had chased one off another had jumped from the rubble and attached itself to his backpack.

Another knight had simply had enough and fired his revolver into the air. The pack of rats, some eight of them that had kept in their peripherals, hesitated but otherwise did nothing. Including the rat hanging on Hardings' pack.

"Paladin, I don't understand why we can't just shoot them!" the knight with the revolver complained. Their squad leader, a stern Paladin with a laser rifle, looked at him through his helmet.

"They're harmless and not worth the bullet."

"But they're eating our food!" Hardings complained.

"Hardly. That one is just eating your knapsack."

"Here, let me try." Their medic offered.

The woman, also in power armor, reached into her own pack and pulled out a can of pork n beans. Breaking the can open, she spilled the contents on the ground which prompted all of the rodents to ignore the knights and go straight for the food. The medic giggled before scratching one rodent behind the ear when it looked up at her.

"There, that's all you're getting from us now leave us alone." The medic told the rodent. The rat squeaked in reply. Once the food had promptly disappeared, the pack of rodents left. All the members of the squad, with the exception of the paladin, were left staring at their medic.

"How did you do that?" one of the knights asked curiously. The medic smiled behind her helmet and replied.

"I grew up with a New York Rat as a pet. They're much smarter than they look and usually, they just want snacks. Give them a snack and they'll pretty much do anything you ask."

"Well…not just anything, Knight Captain Vanderbraun." The paladin corrected dryly.

"Yes, Paladin Vanderbraun…" the medic said in exasperation.

It was very rare for the Brotherhood to allow siblings to work in the same unit but they called an exception for the Vanderbraun twins.

Paladin Lowell Vanderbraun had become a paragon of up and coming Brotherhood members. He was a man of very few words but he was highly disciplined with a keen tactical mind and it seemed that anything put in his hands would become a deadly weapon. It didn't matter if it was high tech or a simple melee weapon. And if worse came to worse he could use his bare hands to devastating effectiveness.

Knight Captain Evelyn Leslie Vanderbraun, the group medic, could always be counted on for a smile and a tad bit of compassion. Where her brother was quiet, she made up for in energy and words. There were also some quiet mutterings within the Brotherhood ranks that she had a wild side to her. Still, none could deny that if a knight went down on the field and Evelyn had them in her hands, they would most likely live to see another day.

And if you left it to them, you almost would not have known that they were the children of two of the famous Liberators. They rarely spoke of their parents.

"Contact ahead, Paladin Vanderbraun." Knight Birns announced, himself armed with a Excelsior marksman rifle, though this one did not have a silencer, being unable to acquire that piece of equipment that was popular among their Regulator counterparts.

"What is it, Birns?" Lowell asked.

"Looks like a group of gang members. No clue as to whether they are a threat or not." Birns replied.

"Right. Birns, stay here and keep your eye through the scope. Felson and Evelyn, you're with me." Lowell ordered.

"What about me?" Hardings asked.

"Spot for Birns and watch carefully." Lowell replied.

"Anything in particular I'm suppose to be learning?" Hardings inquired.

"How you don't always shoot on sight." Lowell answered. That done, Birns hunkered down with his rifle resting on a concrete block. Lowell, Felson, their explosives expert, and Evelyn walked down the block to meet this gang.

Lowell was not impressed with what he saw. There were eight people in rather shabby conditions, bits of metal and leather slapped together on their body as some sort of excuse for armor. Their weapons all looked freshly picked from the ruins, meaning they were probably more likely to explode in the user's hands rather than hurt their intended target.

Perhaps what was most concerning was the fact that they all seemed to be so shot up on chemicals that they were as high as kites.

"Do you need help?" Lowell asked curtly.

The apparent leader, a thin man, leathered by the sun, gazed at him with bleary eyes and ludicrously blathered.

"Wha…you need help, tin man?"

"Why are you out here? The town of The Wall is just a couple blocks to the east, the House slightly further. There's no point being out here in danger of raiders and super mutants." The Paladin explained.

"That's…that's so awesome, man!" the leader breathed.

Evelyn, though she could not see her brother's face behind his helmet, could feel him becoming more and more annoyed.

"We will take you all to the Wall under escort. Come with us. You are more a danger to yourselves and unfit to be out here." Lowell said firmly.

"Now-…don't be hating…tin can!" the leader incoherently protested.

"Fine. Stay out here and God help you all." Lowell growled and started walking away, not wishing to waste any more time on the jet head. Evelyn and Felson closely tagged along behind him.

"With all due respect, that was a bit pointless, sir." Felson said with no intention of malice. Lowell simply grunted.

"If only there was a way we could-" Lowell was suddenly interrupted.

"GET DOWN!" they heard Birns shout. The trio immediately hit the dirt just in time to hear their marksman's rifle go off.

"Kill all humans!" a bellow rung out behind them. Getting up from diving onto the concrete, Evelyn pulled out her submachine gun and turned around. A group of super mutants had knocked down part of the aging concrete walls and immediately started opening fire on the gang members who pitifully fired back with their aging weaponry. There was some relief in that they could see Birns had at least exploded the heads of one of the super mutants.

"See if you can use your Tesla cannon, Felson but try not to hurt the civilians." Lowell ordered calmly as he opened fire with his laser rifle. Felson's long arm immediately unleashed a column of electricity. At that moment, initiate Hardings was in their midst, taking controlled bursts with his assault rifle.

"H-hey! I got one!" Hardings cried as he dropped the last mutant.

"Good." Lowell said quickly before looking at his sister.

"Evelyn, check the gang members." Lowell ordered. His sister dashed off as fast as her power armor would allow, clutching her medical bag. Immediately she started checking the bodies.

"I got one breather here, the others have had it." Evelyn announced, working to stabilize the only gang survivor.

The rest of her squad were already headed her direction while Lowell handed out orders.

"Hardings, Birns, check the bodies. Get what you can recover. Felson, help Evelyn. We're going to have to get this civilian to the Wall. What they do from there is their decision." Lowell finished.

In the ruins of what had once been Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the serene eyes of the marble saints watched on in quiet reverie. Even after the bombs fell the faithful had continued to come and unexpectedly a small community of people living a simple, devoted life had come to care for the building.

That all ended when the small band of pious fled from a gang of super mutants that had taken the place by force.

And now the statues of the saints watched as each super mutant fell dead, their blood staining the ancient floors of all that was left of this holy place.

"Seems like what was suppose to be a quick journey became a side trip and what became a side trip has now become a small errand." Isaac snickered, relaxing his grip on the Chinese assault rifle he had. His father, James, also lowered his trusty laser rifle.

Julia had sent the both of them down to the city to pay a visit to the Vanderbraun twins and to see how they were doing. She also wanted her husband to deliver her still continuing research notes to the Brotherhood. Of course, James had to take a side trip on the way down.

"One of the priests contacted me. Of course I couldn't turn them down." James shrugged.

Rat finally poked his head out of Isaac's backpack. Normally, the rodent stayed behind and kept Julia company as he was getting too old to be following Isaac and James around. However, since they took the ship down, Isaac was able to compensate for the adventurous rodent by keeping him in his backpack. Rat just had to put up with Isaac's Excelsior rifle constantly knocking into him. Besides, they could tell their pet was starting to miss the twins.

"Well, it's cleared, we can continue to the Brotherhood." James announced, returning his rifle to his pack before retrieving his own Excelsior. He preferred the marksman rifle over any of his other firearms. After all, he had designed it himself.

The band of the pious was grateful although James did it more out of his devotion to his faith than anything else. He could not stand the thought of the once magnificent cathedral in the hands of super mutants. Either way, it was time to get back on the road.

Paladin Lowell led his patrol back within the base of the Brotherhood at the former New York harbor. He had never seen it back in the day but he remembered his parents telling him that at one point it was just the cruiser _Defiance_ floating at its dock that had been the base. Now, the _Defiance_ had been all but stripped of its weapons, guns and even computer hardware. It was hard work but the Brotherhood had been able to salvage all they wanted.

That included the once thought to be irreplaceable laser turret.

"All right, you're all dismissed." Lowell simply said. The Paladin may have been formal and by the books with every procedure within the Brotherhood but made up for it in his patrol dismissals being spectacularly lackadaisical. Even he was not quite sure what in his philosophy made it that way but such was the way it was. They all wanted the day off and they fought hard, no need to torture them any more on that.

Besides, he still had to give his report to Elder Hail.

Keeping his hands light on his laser rifle, he relaxed himself within his power armor and walked to the appropriate building at what had become the sprawling Brotherhood of Steel base.

He opened to door, and as expected, he found an older man in the robes of a Brotherhood elder sitting at the desk that had once belonged to the late Scribe Lex.

What Lowell was not expecting to see yet another man, this one with gray starting to form in his dark hair as well as what was definitely a sturdy mechanical arm sticking from his worn duster.

"Dad?" Lowell asked. Even through his helmet's radio his voice fully registered his surprise.

"Hi, Lowell. Just dropped in to deliver your mother's research to Hail and to say hi to you and Evelyn."

"Squeak!"

"And Rat wanted to say hi too." James added. At that moment the large rodent jumped from Isaac's bag in the corner and scampered up to greet Lowell. It was surprising the New York Rat could recognize his old friend even within the power armor but the Liberators had learned a long time ago that Rat was probably much smarter than they ever really knew.

Lowell chuckled as he rubbed the rodents head for a moment. Elder Hail cocked an eyebrow. Lowell rarely smiled as it was. The Brotherhood leader was certain that the number of times heard Lowell chuckle was...well, this was the first time he heard him chuckle in all the years Lowell served under him.

"Your wife's research notes have always been much more of a help than we could have ever expected. Well, at least that's what the other scribes tell me. I was not privy to the project when it first started." Hail said while rolling his eyes. He continued.

"The scribes have especially been excited on her progress notes on how you got Albany up and running. It's almost a miracle that anything could have been brought back to life in that blasted crater."

"I think now she just uses it as an excuse to send me and go check on the kids." James muttered.

"Excuse me a moment, dad, Isaac." Lowell said, casting a glance at his adopted brother. He noticed that Isaac seemed to be trying to melt into the corner he was leaning into.

"Patrol went according to plan but we encountered a group of some five super mutants who jumped a gang of wastelanders. We were able to save one of the civilians and dropped him off at the Wall, Sir." Lowell reported.

"Your father was just telling me that they cleared a super mutant gang within the ruins of Saint Patrick's Catherdral…its undeniable that super mutant activity is up. It's the _why_ that we don't know." Elder Hail murmured with a frown.

"Where is your sister, Lowell?" James asked, suddenly realizing Evelyn was not around. This bothered him a bit.

"I'd venture at the barracks, dad." Lowell replied.

"Well, I'll let you finish your report with the Elder. Excuse me for a moment." James stated before leaving, an excited Rat in tow as well as an visibly relieved looking Isaac.

Evelyn walked to her cot in the barracks and popped her helmet off, sighing in relief. No one ever realized just how stuffy it could get in one of those brain buckets until you finally took it off. She immediately started to place her equipment in their proper place. First she returned her weapons before working off her armored gauntlets. She silently disapproved of all the dust, grime and new dents she noticed in her armor that would have to be repaired as she placed them in her storage container.

She stiffened when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Hey, Evelyn." The medic noticeably became irritated.

"That's 'Knight Captain' to you, Derek." Evelyn muttered. Derek chuckled.

"Oh come on, Evelyn-"

"Don't make me report you. I'm still your superior." Evelyn interrupted. There was some attention she just did not care for as she had kept her back to the man the whole time. There was a reason she did not enjoy being around Derek.

Derek leaned against the wall directly behind her, silently hemming her into the corner.

"Well you certainly didn't report me that one night where-" Evelyn spun around silently but fiercely.

"Derek. Don't ever speak of that again! I was drunk and you took advantage of me!" Evelyn hissed.

"Hardly." Derek snickered smugly.

Both Evelyn and Derek's eyes went wide when they heard a strong rapping off of Derek's armored shoulder pad. Evelyn suddenly felt herself become very small. Derek ground his teeth in annoyance.

Derek turned around and found himself staring at an older man just a head shorter than himself. He had a hard time distinguishing the man's intent or countenance as his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He let out a small sigh though at the intruder's height. He felt now was a good time fold his arms in front of his chest.

"What do you want?" Derek grumbled.

"Excuse me. My name is James Vanderbraun. I see you've met my daughter." James said in an ominously normal tone . Derek suddenly found his leather and metal glove locked in a tight handshake. It felt odd because that was his left hand. Not a lot of people were left handed. Suddenly, he noticed the pressure on his gauntlet was increasing. Heavily. Derek's jaw tightened we he felt a little more pressure than he would have like coming from James' grip. Belatedly, he noticed Evelyn's father was not in fact left handed, instead of flesh and bone he just had a robotic prosthetic for a left hand.

It was threatening to break his hand within his armored glove.

Evelyn meanwhile seemed to be trying to disappear in the shadows by standing very, very still.

"I'm very, _very_, protective of her. One time when she was nine, a death claw was watching her very closely. He would have lunged at her too except his head exploded. He never saw me, never knew I had an eye on him." James stated ominously through clenched teeth. Derek, listening to what James was saying, tried not to gulp when he noticed one of those infamously accurate and powerful Excelsior rifles hanging on James Vanderbraun's back.

"I think I'll keep my eye on you, boy." James finished, jarringly with smile, before finally easing the pressure off of Derek's hand. The chastened knight winced at the sudden rush of blood back into his nearly mangled hand. Still, he tried to hide the pain he was feeling in his throbbing hand.

"Now get out of here." James growled. Derek took off on his heels, angrily embarrassed of himself that an older man with no power armor was able to get him to scram like that.

Evelyn meanwhile could feel herself turning red as her father turned around, his arms folded in front of his chest. She couldn't decipher just how he was looking at her.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, daddy." Evelyn muttered, eyes downcast. James suddenly found himself struggling to figure out how to start the conversation.

"Elder Hail tells me you might have a problem with alcohol." James simply stated.

"I'm doing my best to be careful with it, honest. Lowell makes sure I don't go overboard." Evelyn replied honestly though she fidgeted a bit with her hands.

"Very well. Just please be careful girl, you know your mother and I taught you better than that." James said calmly and nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry." Evelyn apologized, still looking at the floor.

"So how have you been doing otherwise, Evelyn?" James asked, trying to change the direction of their discussion.

"I'm doing well, daddy. They're keeping us busy. I still make time to pray, don't worry, daddy." Evelyn added,knowing her father's devotion. James chuckled lightly. Evelyn finally looked up at him.

"Your mother says hi. She misses you all very much." James added. Any further conversation was interrupted by the sound of rapid pattering along the floor.

_"Yip!" _Rat chirped excitedly as he came scampering up to them as fast as his aging paws would allow.

"Hey, Rat!" Evelyn squealed, picking up the elderly rodent and hugging him. However, she had not been able to take off her breastplate just yet.

"_Squirk…"_ Rat did not remember Evelyn's hide being this cold, hard and altogether uncomfortable but he still felt happy nonetheless. Lowell and Isaac also showed up, Isaac still not looking all that comfortable. Still, the two brothers seemed to be quietly engaging in small talk.

"Hey, Isaac. Enjoying being a regulator?" Evelyn asked her older brother. Isaac actually smiled.

"Don't regret the decision at all." Isaac replied.

"How long will you be staying, dad?" Lowell asked. James sighed.

"Regretfully not much longer. I need to head down to the House. Francis sent me on a bit of an errand."

"You never told me that." Isaac stated, sounding a bit surprised.

"I didn't know Francis was still giving orders. I thought Mark took over?" Evelyn asked, still holding Rat and fussing over him.

"Mark is the leader and handler of the New York Regulators, yes. However, Francis is still the mastermind." James replied.

Father and children caught up for a bit but eventually James had to leave, Isaac in tow while Rat begrudgingly returned to his place in Isaac's backpack, forlornly looking back at Evelyn and Lowell. He even seemed to protest a bit when Isaac zipped him inside. The rodent proved a little more stubborn about staying with the twins more than usual but James chalked it up to the fact that Rat never saw them anymore and goodness knew that as much as Rat loved children, the twins and Isaac were still the rodent's favorite.

Life returning to normal, Lowell went out to finish his day practicing, this time the martial arts of hand to hand combat. Evelyn, feeling the weight come off her shoulders, collapsed in her cot in the barracks, embarrassed at what her father had to overhear but relieved that the knights would now give her a little more room.

Still, between the horrors and stress of combat and the anxiety of trying to hide a few indiscretions, Evelyn had often felt overwhelmed. There just did not seem to be a way out, something to just make it all go away for a couple minutes.

Of course, there is often a medicine for everything. She had learned this quite awhile ago.

Secretly looking around to make sure she was alone, Evelyn secretly pulled out a syringe of Med-X and slowly pushed the liquid into her arm.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."_

-Mahatma Gandhi

* * *

"Francis…seriously? Sending the would-be-Liberators to New York City was crazy but you know, somehow, it worked. Sending your men to rebuild Albany was insane but a miracle happened. But this…this is just…_are you out of your mind_? And you're only sending one man?" Mark sputtered in disbelief. The grizzled old regulator chuckled as he gave a crooked smirk.

"Well, lets go over all of our old reliable cards. I obviously can't send myself. I can't send you. Cindy is stuck with production after her accident…" Francis started, listing his longest serving and more reliable Regulators.

"All of our best and brightest are out on missions or holding the lines…" Mark admitted.

"Sven's breathing is getting worse and he's lost his edge. Carl's lost his foot and he probably spent so much time on the river he probably lost his land legs." Francis added with a roll of his eyes.

"Julia has not been in the field in over a decade, never fully recovered from her bout with that virus. James is getting arthritis." Mark sighed, drumming his fingers on the desktop.

"And Adam…something happened to him but he's not himself. The stealth boys have probably gotten to his head." Francis speculated.

"He still does a good job bringing in the bounties and he works good alone." Mark replied in Adam's defense.

"That's the problem. He only works alone these days and he's _too_ good at what he does." Francis replied darkly.

"Are you suggesting he's padding his kills with…less than evil people?" Mark demanded, narrowing his eyes at Francis.

"I won't question Adam's commitment to justice. But I also know he's no longer himself and he's getting too comfortable with death. Besides, we need someone young, someone who can cover the distance, someone who can add their vision to the plan." Francis said.

"Very well. Once they return here, I'll send him off. I'm going to try and look for more to accompany him, though." Mark stated.

"No, I will." Francis corrected. "It's important that I do it. They'll just probably ignore you if you told them something this crazy. I'll do it myself. They're used to getting insane orders from me."

"True that." Mark chuckled.

* * *

The House, once known as the Empire State Building, was the largest bastion of civilization in New York City with an ever growing population. The generators kept some electricity running in the building while a rudimentary form of government kept the place organized. A crude but effective barricade around the tower kept it protected and the headquarters for New York's caravan force was located right there.

Also at the House was The View. It was the only hangout within the sky scrapper and was frequented by nearly everyone at some point during the day. An Asian woman named May still kept the place running and despite her stout size, she could easily scold any raider down to size. You'd never suspect it, but it seemed to be a kind of talent for the woman. Still, she was fair to the patrons so long as they kept up their best behavior and manners. It was in their best interest to do so. Otherwise she'd tax them to death.

At the counter, James and Isaac lounged, only James knowing exactly what they were keeping an eye out for. Rat contently was sitting on the wooden counter top finishing off a plate of scrap food. May had since called off his one cap tax. He was really doing her a favor by getting rid of the unwanted food but May insisted that he had to keep tidy and not bother any of the other patrons. Rat decided it was a fair deal.

James understood that of his three children, Isaac was the brightest and took after him when it came time to leaning towards marksman weapons. That meant that Isaac had to have a steady hand and a good eye.

Despite his 40 years and developing arthritis, James still had a good eye too.

"You shouldn't stare so intently, son." James chided with a grin. Isaac was knocked out of his reverie from staring at one of the View's patron, which so happened to be a rather shapely looking woman.

"Hrm? What? I'm sorry, dad, was I suppose to be keeping an eye out for something?" Isaac blathered.

"Let me worry about that, but seriously, you're going to bore a hole through the woman's head if you keep staring like that." James bantered.

"I wasn't staring…was I?" Isaac asked, immediately turning red.

"Yes, you were." James replied, more amused than anything. He understood that Isaac had only just recently hit his twenties and it did seem like the young man was a bit girl crazy.

"Yeah well…I'm just single." Isaac grumbled under his breath.

"When you were with the Brotherhood, weren't there any other knights or scribes you could have dated?" James asked. It wasn't like there were any glaring reasons why Isaac would put off any potential mates.

At least to James, it certainly seemed that Isaac could handle himself and was a competent individual. Granted, at times Isaac could come across as a bit absent minded, he probably was at times but still, his adopted son did have his moments of genius. Isaac also was considerate of others, a rare trait in this wasted world.

"Yeah…you and mom certainly would not have approved of any of them." Isaac muttered from the corner of his mouth.

"Including the scribes? I always thought them to be the quiet, studious type." James shrugged.

"You'd think that but they're still trouble all the same. Something must've happened to them after mom left, just what I'm guessing anyway." Isaac shrugged. James bit his lip. He wasn't about to tell his son about the side of his mother that none of the children ever saw. James was only glad she kept it well hidden.

"Maybe…but seriously, Isaac, you're driving both me and you nuts. Just go up and say hi to her or something." James prodded, pointing at the woman Isaac was staring at.

"Seriously? Just go up and say hi to her? Are you kidding, dad?" Isaac demanded incredulously, shooting James a double take.

"No, why would I be?" James asked with a shrug.

"Because…we're like total strangers." Isaac said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So?"

"'Hi, my name is Isaac and my dad says I was staring a hole through your head. How are you doing?' That doesn't really make for a good introduction line." Isaac scoffed. James shook his head in exasperation.

"Well, come up with a better one. Fine, whatever happened to that old friend of yours…what was her name…?" James trailed off.

"…Claire…" Isaac grumbled.

"Yes, Claire. You were practically all over the girl when you were a kid." James replied.

"She started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Last I heard she joined a mercenary group…after pretty much dumping me out of the blue." Isaac muttered irritably. It wasn't a good memory and Isaac would never really admit he still had feelings for his childhood sweetheart.

"Well, all the more reason to go say hi. Now off with you, shoo!" James firmly but gently pushed his son off his stool and in the direction of the particular woman Isaac was staring at. Isaac practically stumbled like a sheep to the slaughter, unable to protest.

That gave James time to track down exactly who he was keeping an eye out for. He was immediately concerned when he spotted him. Just several tables away sat Adam and it was pretty obvious that the company he was with was of the shadier type.

Adam appeared to study the cards in his hand and on the table though he really only gave them a passing glance. His blonde hair seemed to have gotten a bit darker and unkempt with age, his goatee included. He also seemed to radiate some sort of bitterness or a kind of lackadaisical apathy. It seemed to be just hiding under his skin but most people would wonder if something was inexplicably wrong with him.

Still, the men at the table playing poker with him were there for a reason.

"You know…you look awfully familiar." One of the men announced, being the group leader.

"Like someone one of your men bumped into?" Adam asked cryptically, voice low. Adam was met with silence

"You know…the only one to survive a hit squad on a caravan…which turned out to be a phony because someone caught on to the raider group that has been hitting the caravans…" Adam continued with a smug smirk.

"…The one that took all the fingers of the dead hit squad?" Adam finished, still looking at his cards. The leader responded with a low snarl.

"You never should have let that man go…because he left a good description for you to be found." Adam simply smiled before letting out a placidly calm answer.

"…That was the point." Adam replied.

Adam found himself staring down the wrong end of a loaded revolver. Then they heard someone shout from the counter.

"No weapons!" May hollered just before loudly pumping her shotgun.

"May…that buckshot could hurt more than one target…" James whispered.

"Solid slug." May replied quietly.

"Ahhh…" James replied in a hushed tone.

Adam meanwhile punched one of the disguised raiders up the chin, immediately snapping the man's neck. Another one went to slam a glass bottle over Adam's cranium to which the former assassin caught the weapon and, wrenching it free, sent it across his attacker's face. The bottle hit with such force that it shattered.

The broken and jagged stump of the bottle neck was then jabbed into the gang leader's neck, killing him instantly.

Around Adam, the other patrons of The View got back to their former business, trying to ignore the grisly task of the Regulator busy amputating the fingers of the men he just killed. James cautiously approached and Adam noticed the almost mechanical way Adam was cutting off the fingers. Apparently, the man had done this far too many times.

"Adam…you've been busy." James greeted carefully. Adam glanced at him. His eyes lit up.

"Ah, James! Francis let you get away from Albany? What brings you down here?" Adam asked, shaking James' hand energetically.

"Actually, you do. Alexandra has been worried sick about you. You've been gone for a month and a half." James explained.

"Really? That long? My, time flies when you're busy." Adam muttered with a nod. James winced at how thick the bag of sliced of fingers Adam was carrying. Had the man gone so completely into this gross work that it no longer bothered him? Sure, James remembered there was a time when this was an everyday occurrence but even the most battle hardened Regulators tended to hate that task.

"But seriously, you should come home. It's not fair to Alexandra to be worried about you." James said. Adam raised an eyebrow at him.

"…Oh? But you know the 'I missed you so much I haven't seen you in over a month' sex can be kind of-"

"And Francis sent me to track you down. We possibly have a new mission." James interrupted, not wanting to hear any more of Adam and Alexandra's private life. The new information seemed to throw Adam for a loop.

"Whoa, whoa…Francis sent you down here to track me down? You think it's a mission?" Adam asked excitedly. James nodded. He was about to add something else to the conversation but found himself cut off by Adam.

"Last time that happened…we all ended up working together. Geez, you know how much I miss doing that, man? It's ridiculous when you have to work alone." Adam complained. James then noticed that Adam had, judging from the alcohol on the man's breath, had turned into a depressed drunk.

"Let's go, Adam." James finally said, patting his former group leader's back and showing him towards the door. They were immediately joined by Isaac with an equally excited Rat sitting in Isaac's backpack.

"Did you make a new friend, Isaac?" James asked.

"Erm…she has quite the colorful career…lady of the night you would say." Isaac admitted, turning a bit red.

"Ah. I take it you're no longer interested." James replied.

"Nope."

"Good job, son." James praised flatly.

"Wha- Whoa. You're Isaac? You got big there since I last saw you." Adam blathered in his intoxicated stupor.

"You last saw me a couple months ago, Adam." Isaac replied with a bit of confusion.

"You still got big." Adam said.

* * *

The next morning, Evelyn rose from her cot and immediately started getting into her power armor. It was a task that easily took minutes. As she got ready she wondered if the rest of her squad was up. She already knew Lowell would be but it was a matter of whether the others would be ready.

The Brotherhood of Steel ranks having grown, the para-military organization could now field more men and units. With the growing ranks came a larger pool of elite soldiers. Now, the New York City branch had more than just the lionized Iron Storm Troopers. Evelyn was under the command of her brother Lowell Vanderbraun, leader of the Carbide Tempest squad. Finally suited up, Evelyn made sure her submachine gun was set before holstering her other weapon, a tri-laser blaster. At her hip was a gift that all of the Vanderbraun children carried, given to all of them by their father before they left.

As it turned out, James broke his old shortblade just before they sent the three of them off. Needing a new shortblade, James disappeared into the forge for a couple of days only to return with five beautiful and perfectly balanced palm leaf blade machetes. Both edges were razor sharp but weighted to give them an extra bite when they went down. Their points were wickedly sharp and Lowell once sent his the toughest part of a Talon Company merc's armor with ease. Each of the Vanderbrauns carried one and at least for Lowell, Evelyn and Isaac, it was a reminder of home for them.

Evelyn stood at attention when her brother entered the barracks. It was clearly him by his stern silence, rigid stance and the carbide tempest insignia on his shoulder pad. He too was already suited in full armor.

"We're waiting for you, Knight Captain. Are you ready?" Lowell asked.

"Yes, sir." Evelyn replied, keeping to formalities as she slipped her helmet on.

The two stepped out into the streets and gathered the Carbide Tempest troopers.


	5. Chapter 5

_Before taking the leap of faith and diving for the plunge, it's less of a matter of do you look before you jump. It's a matter of do you keep your eyes open as you fall._

_

* * *

_

Three Albany residents watched a very familiar administrator stroll by on the way to the water front. She seemed in a hurry. These three often hung out together and people watching was their usual activity as they loitered. That was promptly what they launched into doing.

"You know, she still looks pretty charming for a woman over forty." The first said.

"No kidding. Believe it or not, once you get past that tough and busy front she's always putting up, she's actually got a nice smile." The second added.

"What? You two ain't getting any ideas are you? She's married to a Liberator, you know. Heck, she's one herself." The third reminded his cronies.

"True, plus her husband is a dead shot with a rifle. You'd never see him, or so I was told." The second nodded.

"How'd you find this out?" the first asked.

"I asked about all those dead mutant bodies just laying at random spots on the outskirts of the city, all laying around without any shell casings anywhere. Someone told me that's because there's an expert sniper that spends all day picking them off. Now every time you see her husband, he's got one of the Excelsior rifles. You just put two and two together." The third explained.

Unaware she was being ogled, Julia marched up the gangplank of the most respected ship in the Albany harbor, the _Hammer_ and rapidly made her way to the cabin house where she impatiently rapped on the door.

"Yes? Oh, hi Julia." Carl greeted heartily, poking his head out of the door.

"Hello, Carl. You're needed at the _Half Moon_ over at the other pier." Julia announced with a light smile. Carl looked over at the old and familiar ship.

"Now why would I need to be over on that old tub? I love it and all but we're just about to raise anchor, run a patrol and bag a few lurks now." Carl explained, eyebrows furrowed. Sure, the old ship had plenty of good memories but it also had a few bad ones. Besides, there was work to be done.

"James, Isaac and Adam have returned from the city. Mark also came up and he wants you guys to meet." Julia said.

"Meet? There will be plenty of time, we'll only be gone for an hour or two. Three at the most." Carl pointed out. Julia crossed her arms in front of her.

"Francis came too. Sven's already on the ship. We believe Francis is going to send you all on another mission. Together." Julia said flatly, trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm. Carl's eyebrows shot up and he immediately bound towards the gangplank.

"Well, why didn't you say so earlier, Julia? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me about these things anymore?" Carl grumbled, thundering over towards the _Half Moon_, his right foot fall much louder than his left due to the metal prosthetic.

Julia meanwhile watched the giant lumber off towards the proper ship with her arms still crossed though she tried to suppress a giggle. Still, this was no laughing matter. She understood why she was left out, she had not been in the field for such a long time and at this point she played a crucial role in the administration of Albany. Regardless, the whole situation did not sit well with her. James, Carl, Sven and Adam were not as young as they used to be. Isaac, for all practical purposes, was her first child and honestly, she felt like he was still a little green at times.

But with her husband and three other friends getting called off all at once by Francis, this usually meant something big was about to happen and they all knew they were getting a little too well along in age to be doing stuff like that.

"Where did he go?" a small voice asked. Julia looked down to see a smaller woman of Hispanic heritage stepping from the wheel house. It was Gloria, the woman Carl married a couple years back. To this day the other Liberators laughed because Carl, standing over six feet, married Gloria who just barely broke four feet. The height difference was quite hysterical.

"Oh, Francis wanted them all back for a meeting." Julia explained before hugging the shorter woman as a greeting.

"What do you think it will be about this time, Julia?" Gloria asked curiously.

"I honestly don't know." Julia admitted quietly.

What she didn't say was that she was not sure if she wanted to find out.

The _Half Moon_ had not aged too much within twenty years. After all, it was over two hundred years old, having been built before the Great War and was still holding strong.

The same could not be said for all its occupants.

In the mess hall that had become the meeting place on the ship, a gaunt and weathered Francis sat behind a table flanked by Mark who also had become a little thinner through the years. In front of them sat the four original Liberators and despite being in their forties, looked a little old for their years. The wasteland had not been kind to any of them and their jobs made it worse. Sven seemed to wheeze more into his gas mask. Both James and Carl occasionally came down with phantom pain, something that appeared to be a common side effect of their prosthetics and Adam just seemed to be constantly out of it, lacking the personality and energy he once had.

Sitting off away from the scene was both Alexandra and Isaac who still watched on with some curiosity.

"…So…what did you call us here for?" James asked, prompting the discussion. Francis just chuckled though it sounded a little raspy.

"As you know, Albany and New York City and their surrounding locals have seen a rise in population and infrastructure as of late. Heck, there's even been a rise of industry and we're even punching out a new product for the wasteland in the form of those Excelsior rifles." Francis said.

"And yet somehow I doubt that's the reason you called us here." Adam suddenly blurted, seeming to come out of a daze. Francis nodded solemnly.

"Indeed. While we have been focusing on what has been happening mostly within the southern and central parts of New York, we have not been able to keep track of what is going on in the northern end of the state. Recently, there's been trouble upstate."

"Lab 18?" James asked, a bit alarmed.

"Man, I hope it's not them again." Carl grumbled.

"Not quite. Caravans still run up north into former Canada. Communities as well as the Commonwealth still make it a profitable venture. However, two new factions have arrived on the scene. There's the Hierarchy which hails from former Vermont believe it or not. Then there's the Western Coalition from out in Western New York, well beyond the Mohawk River." Francis explained.

"Surely they're not thinking about threatening us or something." Adam muttered.

"Do we blow them up?" Sven asked hopefully.

"Oh heaven's no! They're blowing each other up." Francis explained. The Liberators stared at him blankly.

"So what's the problem? Other than the obvious humane issue?" James asked.

"They're interfering with the caravan trade. I'm sending you guys to go and see if you can solve the issue." Francis dropped. Carl raised an eyebrow while Adam and James continued to stare at their employer. Sven just wheezed through his gas mask.

"You expect us to solve a war? I mean, I heard of these Coalition guys. They started from, and still are led, by a ruthless raider warlord who brought the gangs of western New York together to form their coalition. They're not known for their mercy." James pointed out, not liking the idea.

"The Hierarchy is not much better. They're pretentious and arrogant bastards. I heard they're a spin off of the Enclave. Either way, they tried to parade themselves as refined people trying to restore the wasteland but it's just a white washed façade. They're just as ruthless as the Coalition." Adam murmured. Francis sighed as he massaged the temples of his skull

"I didn't expect you to add 'Peace Makers' to your titles. Just find a way to get them off our caravans. We've already lost dozens of men and the Caravan's Office at the House is drawing excessive losses. Lab 18 and the Commonwealth are not enjoying it either. They depend on us as much as we depend on them." Francis explained.

"Fine. Guess we'll find a way." James said with a sigh.

"Anything else?" Adam asked, sounding impatient.

"Leave tomorrow. I'm sure by traveling up north on the Mohawk you'll get to where you need to be in no time. That's become the contested area between the two factions." Francis suggested.

"All right." Adam said, making sure his stealth boy was securely strapped to his wrist.

"Any other questions?" Francis inquired, glancing at each of them.

"Nope." Adam replied. Everyone immediately glared at him as time seemed to stand still for a moment. Francis' eyes noticeably bulged.

"…Are you all right, Adam? Aren't you going to ask-"

"Oh, right! How many caps to be had?" Adam asked quickly, interrupting James. Francis let out a sigh of relief.

"Nearly gave me a heart attack back there. We'll find out. The Caravan's Office may decide to throw in a bonus. I can only offer to cover your expenses at this point." Francis explained.

"Well, guess we better get ready." James said.

"Should I bring the fat man?" Sven asked.

"No matter what I tell you, aren't you going to bring it anyway?" Adam muttered without even looking at him.

"Good point." Sven replied. With that, the group left their chairs and made their way towards the door.

"Also, I have a mission for Isaac." Francis announced. James stopped dead in his tracks glanced at the grandmaster.

"Oh? What are you sending him for?" James asked in concern.

"The lad can tell you on his own. I need to speak with him alone at this point. Shoo." Francis waved the Liberators off. James raised an eyebrow but hesitantly followed orders. Isaac himself seemed to be a bit surprised but nonetheless obliged and sat down in front of the grandmaster's desk.

"So…what's this about?" Isaac asked when the others left.

"Perhaps the most important thing for New York's future." Francis replied.

* * *

A common problem of the post apocalypse is the fact that at any given moment the fragile peace can violently erupt in the sounds of war, a reminder that man had not remembered the sins that had brought him to this hell in the first place and still suffered from the iniquity of previous crimes.

The sins of the fathers still condemned them to this damnation.

The Carbide Tempest troopers had run into a patrol of super mutants. Paladin Lowell, Knight Captain Evelyn, Knights Felson and Birns and Initiate Hardings immediately took evasive maneuvers. Diving behind rubble and large concrete blocks, Lowell immediately got to assessing the situation.

"Report. Anyone get an idea on how many are out there?" Lowell demanded through their radios.

"I count ten. Eight regulars and two brutes." Brins reported, trying to line up a mutant through his scope. He immediately dove back behind cover when he felt bullets popping around him.

"I counted that too. They are armed with rifles and assault rifles. No hammers or energy weapons spotted." Felson added. Lowell silently nodded within his helmet. The mutants were not too dangerously armed though those rifles could put a nasty punch in their power armor if they were not careful. What really got his attention though was the fact that there were so many of them. Patrols usually did not exceed four mutants. Ten was a bit over the top.

"Hardings! You're our special operations member, stealth up and find a way if we can turn this to our favor. We're pinned down at the moment." Lowell ordered.

"Yes sir." Hardings nodded and immediately the armored knight disappeared under the influence of a stealth boy. Adrenaline screaming in the initiate's head, Hardings did his best to keep his breathing regular and calm. Yes, mutant's were not the brightest creatures to walk on this earth but they were not complete idiots. You never knew when one might catch onto the fact that the disturbance in the area was actually a tin can with an activated stealth boy. If that happened, Hardings would really be in trouble.

Still nervous but convinced that the mutants could not see his translucent outline, Hardings surveyed what was in front of him. The mutants had lined themselves up on the second floor of a building that gave them a commanding field of fire. They were also being patient, not charging them but keeping to the defensive despite the fact that they had the advantage in numbers. That did not make their jobs easier. Birns still could not get a shot off and neither could Felson with his heavy weapon.

"Paladin, we have a situation." Hardings reported quietly through his radio, still keeping his head up as he watched.

"Go head." Lowell replied.

"They're well fortified behind the ruin walls and it does not look like they'll give up their position. It's also clear that they now have us pinned down." Hardings explained, mouth going dry from the fear coursing through his veins.

"Felson, you got a high explosive bomb on you?" Lowell asked. The explosives expert quickly looked through his inventory.

"I got a timed explosive on a mini-nuke. Just set it up and run, sir." Felson reported after quickly glancing through his pack.

"All right. Hardings, I want you to take that timed mini-nuke and plant it where it will do the most damage, at least just so that it will buy us time to gain fire superiority. Go under cover of your stealth boy. Understand me, soldier?" Lowell asked. Hardings gulped.

"Um…you think I'll be able to do that?" Hardings squeaked. Lowell was about to put his foot down when Evelyn suddenly butted into the transmission.

"Hardings, I want you to listen to me. You have the best chance out of anyone of us of doing it. You have the training and knowledge of stealth boys and you're the only special forces trained Brotherhood operative we have. You can do this, Hardings. Just take a deep a breath." Evelyn encouraged.

"But do it quickly and do it now, soldier. That's an order." Lowell barked. Hardings took both Evelyn's sweet voice and encouragement as well as Lowell's metaphorical boot to the pants and swallowed hard. He was going to do this.

"Catch, Initiate!" Felson called, tossing Hardings the football sized bomb. Hardings caught it with a grunt, activated his stealth boy and stepped into the fray.

Running into no man's land, running into the mouth of disaster.

Fighting to keep himself from panting as well as trying to make sure his heavy boots did not disturb the ground too much, Hardings moved as quickly as possible through the open ground, barely noticing that the super mutants had not targeted him yet but were still focused on trying to hit his comrades. Quickly dashing to the base of the building where the mutants were holed up in, the spec ops adroit took a deep breath and set the timer before sprinting back to where he started. He knew his boots were now disturbing the ground too much but he hoped that the mutants were too stupid to notice that.

"Hey!" he heard one of the mutants bellow. That was when Hardings noticed that he could actually see himself. The stealth boy had worn off.

"Crap." Hardings hissed.

"Shoot the human!" one of the mutants growled.

Lowell, Felson, Birns and Evelyn immediately got out of cover and started firing furiously at the mutants, hoping to give Hardings a chance. The panicked Brotherhood initiate screamed for dear life as he ran for all his worth back to the cover the rest of the Carbide Tempest troopers were hiding under. In a final shout, Hardings leaped over the uprising and landed with a heavy belly flop on the ground. Immediately, a heavy explosion rocked the ground, jarring all of them for a moment. Birns was the first to take a peek.

"Looks like we got them all, Paladin." Birns reported.

"Good. Hardings, report your status." Lowell demanded.

"Um…I felt a few bullets land on my back." Hardings answered shakily. Evelyn was already at his side looking him over. She stifled a giggle.

"They just bounced off your armor. You got a few dents on your back but you're okay. We'll get those fixed when we get back to base." Evelyn told the man.

"Oh…okay…cool. Whew." Hardings sighed, still laying face down in the rubble.

* * *

"I need you to get me a couple seeds." Francis said. Isaac stared at the old man blankly as the room descended into a very thick silence. For a moment, the Regulator grandmaster wondered what was taking Isaac so long to respond.

"The most important thing for New York is a couple of seeds?" Isaac demanded with a raised eyebrow.

Francis sighed in firm but slowly thinning patience.

"I've gotten some reports from fellow Regulators out in the Washington DC area. You know where that is, right?" Francis inquired.

"Yes, its west of here." Isaac nodded.

"Regulators in the Capital Wasteland are talking about a place called 'Oasis' which is supposedly in their neck of the woods. Reports tell of an actual, living, healthy tree that is supporting plenty of vegetation. I need you to get over there and procure a bunch of seeds so that we can plant them here." Francis explained. Isaac continued to stare at him dumbfounded.

"So…why does the future of New York rest in a bunch of seeds?" Isaac asked. Francis sighed in exasperation.

"Oh for crying out loud, your dad is a walking brain, your mother is a scribe you and built an actual rail gun when you were a kid because you were bored-"

"Yeah, you should have seen the look on dad's face when it sent a round through several concrete walls." Isaac snickered, interrupting Francis' rant.

"AND YOU DON'T GET WHY A BUNCH OF SEEDS ARE IMPORTANT TO OUR FUTURE?_"_ Francis shouted. Isaac raised two hands to calm the old man down.

"Whoa there, Francis. Don't have a brahmin on me. How about you explain this to me?" Isaac offered. Francis muttered something under his breath.

"It means we can actually get some life here in New York, make it a habitable place. The Hudson River's water quality has been getting better but that won't completely solve the problem. We can bring back civilization as best we can but without vegetation, edible produce, a habitable environment, we'll never bring back a population of people. Those seeds could bring plants that make our world more habitable. Don't you get it, Isaac? We can bring back the world from before the Great War." Francis stated. Isaac's mouth dropped as the epiphany hit him.

"Ohhhhh…"

"Now he gets it." Francis grumbled.

"Sounds like it's a little too easy. Why are you sending me?" Isaac asked.

"I'm not just sending you. I've arranged for another two to join you as well. The first man is David Ben Levi. He's somewhere on the ship actually. He knows a bit of everything but he likes his assault rifles. The second man is Joseph Horn, a Regulator we have up at the Nation."

"Nation?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah. You've heard of the Native American people, yes? Back in the day a lot of them were put on places called 'Reservations.' The Nation is what came out of a group of Reservations in the area that banded together. The Nation's people have a closer touch to nature than most other Wastelanders. Joseph Horn will be your guide. He's well traveled and a survival expert." Francis explained.

"Now I don't mean to prod, but assembling three men just to get a bunch of seeds seems a bit like overkill. What kind of danger are you expecting other than the usual?" Isaac asked. Francis chuckled.

"So you do have something working up there. Yes, other than the usual, reports have also stated that Oasis is guarded by a group of people that do not take too kindly to strangers. I highly advise against going in there guns blazing but do whatever you can to get those seeds, even if you got to learn to live with them for awhile. _We need those seeds._" Francis emphasized the last point. Isaac nodded.

"Got it. When do you want me to leave?" Isaac asked.

"Go tomorrow. You and David should first go west to the Mohawk River and then south of it to find the Nation. Once you got Joseph Horn, get to the Capital Wasteland." Francis ordered.

"Understood." Isaac replied before calmly leaving the table.

Francis watched the young man leave the room before folding his hands together on the desk and dipping his brow in thought.

The cards were dealt and the stakes were laid. Now he had to pray that it would be enough.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."_

The Dalai Lama

* * *

Julia woke just before the sun's tip could peek over the horizon. She felt James starting to stir next to her and immediately placed an arm over him as if to bar him from leaving. Julia sensed her husband slowly grasp her hand in his own.

"I know you don't want me to leave…but I don't think Francis trusts anyone else to this job." James said quietly. Julia did not reply but simply held onto him tighter.

"It's not even going to be a search and destroy mission. We're simply trying to resolve a conflict peacefully with people who at least have been known to use diplomacy." James added.

"Safety is only partially the reason why I don't want you to go." Julia finally whispered.

"Then what are you worried about?" James inquired.

"I don't want to be alone. Lowell and Evelyn are gone. Isaac is also leaving to God knows where on a long journey with so many dangers and you'll be leaving too. I…what if something happens?" Julia asked. James did not answer. Julia was still a strong woman in spirit and he was pretty certain she could hold off a small gang of raiders with her plasma rifle. However, she had never regained her strength. In fact, he often had to help her out of bed in the mornings. So long as he did that, she could hold her own throughout the day but still, it was a thorn of worry for the both of them about her health.

"I don't want to be alone." Julia lamented quietly.

James sat up in bed and helped her up as well, sitting next to her. He did not want to lie to her nor give her false hope. Not finding words, he instead embraced her firmly before kissing her tenderly.

"I will come back as soon as I can…and remember, no matter what you will see me again." James whispered.

"I'd rather see you on this side of eternity first." Julia muttered though with a hint of playfulness.

"You'll have Rat to keep you company." James offered weakly.

"Yes, thank God I'll at least have one old friend." Julia sighed.

"I love you, Julia." James whispered, still holding her.

* * *

Over at the docks, Adam was busily throwing together the equipment he would need for the journey. As the man hurriedly packed his things, his wife Alexandra was watching on with more than enough concern.

"That's it? You're gone for over a month without a word, come back for a night and now you're leaving again?" Alexandra demanded, waving a hand in frustration.

"Orders are orders. I got to go. I'll be back as soon as this mission is over." Adam replied.

"And when will it be over, Adam? Another month from now? Maybe two? Like all the others?" Alexandra cried, emotion hanging in her voice.

"What? You think I'm purposefully going off by myself now?" Adam shot. Alexandra shook her head.

"Yes and no. Honestly, Adam, I think…something is changing in you and you don't realize it. You're no longer yourself. You're more sullen and sometimes it seems like you don't even know what's going on and then you're off chasing dangers that don't exist. Adam…you do know stealth boys can eventually mess up your head, right?" Alexandra questioned. Adam did not respond except to glance at the device that was ironically strapped to his wrist.

"I don't use these all the time. Besides, I need these to stay alive out there." Adam replied. Alexandra sighed.

"What I'm really trying to say is this, Adam. When you're done with this mission, I want you to retire." Alexandra finally admitted.

"Retire? But…I…" Adam fumbled, staring at her dumbfounded before looking away. This was quite a statement to swallow and he was not sure how he felt about it. Alexandra walked over and placed both hands on each of his shoulders.

"Adam…this job is getting too much for you. I make enough caps to support both of us on the trading runs and you can just help me. We don't get a lot of fighting anymore but if and when we do, then you can shine. You just can't be fighting out there by yourself anymore. It's no longer good for you. I'm worried about you, Adam." Alexandra explained. Adam sighed. Even he had to admit that he was finding it more difficult to concentrate as of late. It was as if he lived in a mild, blurry haze and the only time it was clear was when he was in a whirlwind of death dashing out knives. Even he knew that was a bad place to be in.

He found himself making a decision he never realized he would be making so soon.

"All right…after this mission…I'll turn in my duster." Adam sighed.

"Promise?" Alexandra asked, poking his chest with a finger.

"I promise." Adam agreed with a nod. Alexandra immediately hugged him before kissing him.

"Come home soon." Alexandra whispered.

"I'll try…I'll try…" Adam replied quietly, still swallowing what he had just done.

* * *

Out in the streets, the Vanderbrauns were sending off their oldest son to wherever he was off to. This was especially hard on Julia to see both James and Isaac heading off. The mother hugged Isaac hard before grasping the lapels of his duster and speaking to him sternly.

"For goodness sake, son, be careful and come back home. Please." Julia pleaded.

"I'll do my best, Mother." Isaac replied with a slight smile.

"Just remember what we've taught you, Isaac." James said.

"I will." Isaac answered before turning off to head for the docks. He was stopped when he felt his pant leg jerk backwards. Isaac smiled when he saw that it was Rat. It seemed like as far back as he could remember that oversized rodent was tugging him in a different direction.

"Oh, Rat! I'm sorry little buddy, you can't come with me this time." Isaac apologized to the rodent. Rat whined sorrowfully, pawing at his leg.

"I'll be back home before you know it." Isaac assured. The rodent continued to mope but sat on his haunches and wrapped his front paws around Isaac's leg, the trademark gesture that the Liberators recognized as Rat's take on a hug. Isaac knelt down and returned the gesture before sending Rat off with a pat on his head.

"Bye, Rat, Mom, Dad." Isaac bid them before walking off to the ships to meet David. Rat, James and Julia continued to watch his retreating figure disappear.

"I should be heading off soon myself." James whispered, rubbing Julia's back. Julia nodded before burying her forehead into his shoulder.

"Don't be gone too long." Julia replied.

Sven and Adam were already on board Carl's ship when James boarded. On the shore, among other well wishers, Julia, Rat and Cindy waved goodbye as the _Hammer_ raised anchor and left the docks. Adam looked over at James on the railings as they pulled away.

"That took you long enough." Adam muttered.

"I'm a little more attached to home than you are, Adam." James admitted.

"I'll grant you that." Adam replied, lighting up a cigarette. It was at that moment that Gloria showed up, the short woman shuffling towards them with a large spoon in her hands.

"Breakfast will be ready soon. Carl said he can have a table reserved for just you guys if you wish to discuss plans." Gloria announced.

"What's on the menu?" James asked.

"Mirelurk omelets made from mirelurk eggs." Gloria answered before shuffling back into the ship. Sven, James and Adam glanced at each other before following after her.

"Got a plan, Adam?" James asked.

"All the other times we worked together, I was under the impression it was your job to give me options and possible plans and I would choose the best one." Adam replied with a chuckle.

"Give me time. I've been out of the field for too long." James muttered, a ball of ice sinking in his stomach from that fact. Had his skills deteriorated to the point of being potentially fatal to him?

"Ah, it'll come back to you quick." Adam waved.

"Easy for you to say. You've stayed in the field all these years." James answered, opening the door for all of them.

"Kill them with fire. Or explosives. Ah, just kill them with both." Sven suddenly blurted.

"Sven's already got the idea." Adam snickered.

James rolled his eyes.

* * *

Isaac somberly boarded the _Clermont_, still commanded by Saffron. Conveniently, she would be going on a trade run in the direction he needed to go. He would get off at the appropriate location. In the meantime, he decided he should get to know his new partner. He just had to find this new guy first as he had not had the chance to meet him yet. Looking around, he suddenly spotted a man sitting back in a seat, cap pulled low over his head as if he was taking a nap. The man was also wearing the classic Regulator duster like he was. Isaac cautiously walked up him.

"Erm, are you David Ben Levi?" Isaac asked.

"Yep." David answered nonchalantly.

"My name is Isaac. I assume Francis has already given you all the particulars of our mission?" Isaac asked.

"Yep." David replied before pushing his cap back, revealing himself to be a man with a short cut beard and blue eyes with a relaxed countenance. At his back was an assault rifle but a submachine gun hung at his waist. Isaac could also imagine that the man had a couple more tricks in his bag.

"Here, take a seat, might as well enjoy the afternoon." David offered the spot next to him, to which Isaac took.

"So where are you from?" David asked.

"Here, Albany. My parents tell me they found me here." Isaac answered.

"Really? You know, that sounds so much like the Liberator's kid. The married couple found and adopted a kid in Albany. They say he became a Regulator too. Haha, imagine having a life so similar to him." David laughed.

"Hahaha…yeah." Isaac forced a laugh. The Vanderbraun children learned a long time ago that a certain amount of special treatment and high expectations came with being known as children of the Liberators. They had a tendency not to mention it anymore unless absolutely necessary.

"So where are you from, David?" Isaac asked.

"I'm from New York City, came from Brooklyn." David replied, returning his cap over his eyes.

"Hmmm…can't say I've ever been to Brooklyn all the times I visited the city." Isaac admitted.

"Ah, you didn't miss much. Quiet place but pretty deserted too. It only started to get better after the city started to grow." David explained.

"So, have you ever been to the Nation? Even know what this Joseph Horn looks like?" Isaac asked.

"Nope, but I figure we'll solve that problem when we get to it." David answered with a comfortable shrug. Isaac simply arched his eyebrows before sitting back himself.

He wasn't sure how this was starting off.

* * *

The Carbide Tempest was pinned down again. Crouched behind a mess of broken concrete from a fallen building, the Brotherhood Knights kept their heads down for dear life as angry rifle shots from super mutants bounced all around them. Felson looked over at Paladin Lowell.

"Is our support coming?" the demolitions expert asked.

"ETA seven minutes." Lowell announced with a nod.

"What do we do until then?" Hardings asked shakily.

"Keep our heads down and keep them from flanking." Birns replied, glancing around with his Excelsior rifle ready.

"Just hold on and sit tight. We'll all make it out of this." Evelyn stated with a little more confidence than she felt though her voice was convincing enough to the other men.

"Wait…shhh…listen." Lowell shushed, tilting his head to listen harder.

The others glanced around bewildered, surprised Lowell was trying to listen to anything subtle in the maelstrom they were in.

"What could you possibly be trying to listen for?" Evelyn demanded.

"There are more gun shots…I almost think the super mutants are firing on each other." Lowell replied. He could almost feel Birn's raise an eyebrow behind his helmet. Amazingly, the marksman stuck his helmet above the ruins and took a good glance before diving back down.

"You're not going to believe this but the super mutants _are_ firing on each other." Birns answered in shock.

The knights all stuck their heads up this time and were greeted by a bewildering sight.

The first wave of mutants had turned around and were being clobbered by a new wave that had hit them from behind. At first there was no notable difference but they were starting to gather something.

"This isn't right. Something is off." Lowell muttered.

"The second wave…are they better armed or something?" Felson asked.

"No, they're about equally armed…" Birns stated, confirming with his scope.

So engrossed were the knights that they failed to notice subtle rumbles resounding under the feet. They were snapped out of their reverie when a massive electronic voice split the air.

"Phlegyas Urban Defense System on site! All communists will be vaporized!" The massive battle walker announced, emerging from the ruins.

Immediately angry beams of energy streamed from its gatling lasers while rounds and missiles flew off the top of its platform. Before the Carbide Tempest knights could lift a weapon, all of the super mutants were simply gone in a flash of smoke.

"All targets eliminated. Resuming patrols." The Phlegyas announced, walking right over the knights who could not help but gape in awe as it walked by.

Evelyn noticed both the Brotherhood insignia and the simple statement of "New York Regulators" painted on its side. Both factions were now apparently using and maintaining the large war machine. Lowell was the first to speak.

"I'm not sure what we just saw back there but from now on we're all going to be on full alert. Something really strange is going on." Lowell muttered.


	7. Chapter 7

"_It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well."_

Descartes

* * *

_The three Vanderbraun children loitered among the ruins, young children barely over the age of eight. At the moment they were still trying to find something to entertain themselves as Rat, their faithful babysitter and friend, sat in their midst enjoying the respite he was getting. He knew it may not last long. _

_Isaac, the most thoughtful one of the three seemed to be anxious, as if he wanted something but he knew he could not wander too far into the ruins. The concrete in some areas could be unstable and heaven forbid it if they ran into a radroach, molerat or a super mutant. Still, it was obvious the youngster wanted something. Looking at his snack, a can of Cram, Isaac suddenly appeared thoughtful. He opened the can and set it in front of Rat. _

"_Rat, could you find me a book that I could read? Something that isn't burnt up?" Isaac asked. _

_Rat looked at him for a moment before proceeding to devour the Cram. _

"_I don't think he understands you. He's just eating your food." Evelyn said, watching her older brother. _

"_Wait a moment. Let him finish." Isaac replied. _

_Rat, finishing off his snack, hesitated a moment before looking at the concrete ruins. Then, after a second of apparent contemplation, the rat dashed off and disappeared under a crevice, going through holes and passageways in the rubble that no human could crawl through. By now, all three of the children were waiting with interest. Would Rat come back with something interesting? Had the rodent understood the request?_

_Before they knew it, they spotted Rat's whiskered nose poking out of the hole again before the large rodent popped out completely from the apparently narrow passageway. However, most tellingly, was a large paper object still held in Rat's snout. Despite the many years of laying around in a dark place and despite the lack of light, Rat had found a mostly intact book. The rodent dropped it in front of Isaac. The youngster read it carefully. _

"_Nikola…Tesla…and You! Thanks Rat!" Isaac cried before sitting down and starting to read._

"_Can you get me a toy car, Rat?" Evelyn asked sweetly, smiling as she dropped her box of Dandy Boy Apples in front of the rodent. _

_Rat furiously inhaled the box and disappeared into the ruins again. Just as quickly, Rat reappeared, this time with a toy car which he deposited in front of Evelyn. The girl squealed in delight. _

"_Thank you, Rat! You're the best." The girl bear hugged the rodent before focusing on her new toy. That left Lowell who was holding a can of Pork n Beans. Everyone knew that this was Rat's most favorite food. _

"_I want a revolver, Rat. Or at the very least a cherry bomb. Could you do that, Rat?" Lowell asked. _

_Rat tilted his head at Lowell but then immediately got to stuffing his snout with beans. Lowell smirked as Isaac and Evelyn watched on in a bit of apprehension. They were starting to wonder why they had not thought big especially with Rat once again faithfully scampering off in the ruins. _

_When he returned, Rat was carrying a worn teddy bear. _

"_But I asked for a revolver." Lowell complained. _

_Rat did not reply though the rodent could still remember when Isaac got his hands on a laser pistol at age two. It still was not a pleasant memory. Now, tired from all the errands, Rat curled up into a ball to take a quick nap. Lowell meanwhile begrudgingly gave an ecstatic Evelyn the teddy bear before sitting down and pouting. _

"_Guess he won't do just anything you ask him." Lowell grumbled._

_

* * *

_

Julia groaned as she realized she was waking up. The pain of the sunlight hitting her unready eyes did not compare with the emptiness she felt that was reflected by the unoccupied spot next to her. Still, she could not let that bring her down. Sighing, she tried to sit up but then realized she had not the strength to do that. Frowning, she rolled over and wondered why she did not the strength to get out of bed yet had the stamina to get her through all the other grueling chores that had to be done throughout the day.

"Squeak?" Rat greeted, frantically climbing up the side of the mattress before poking his nose into her face.

"Ack, Rat, go get Asimov. I need help." Julia said.

Rat hesitated a moment before shuffling off the bed and scampering out of the house.

The streets of Albany were a pale white from the low laying mist that covered the town while a dim sun did its best to penetrate the thin layer of overcast skies above their heads. Rat only noticed this for a moment as he rushed from the Vanderbraun house over to the rifle factory.

Slipping inside the stuffy building through the door, the rat wandered through the billowing lights from the fire and the flickering embers raining from the metal works. Largely ignored by the workers manning the equipment, Rat was able to proceed unhindered as he made his way towards his destination. He found his objective at a large computer terminal.

"Squeak!" Rat announced.

"And a good morning to you too, you flea bag." A mechanical voice snapped back.

"Squeak!" Rat shot irritably at Asimov.

Turning from his work, Asimov spun to face the rodent.

Asimov was in fact a robobrain, the very one programmed by James and Sven to watch the children back in the day. Eventually, Asimov's AI grew advanced enough to master many concepts, including developing his own personality. In fact, the Vanderbrauns noticed that, a bit morbidly, Asimov's old memories from his past life as a human faintly floated to the surface every now and then. It was for this reason that James and Julia started to allow Asimov a certain degree of freedom. Asimov chose his own name and his new profession of working in the factory after the children were old enough.

The rivalry between Rat and Asimov however, just didn't seem to go away with the years. No one was sure why or how exactly it started. The best theories was that Asimov resented how Rat had more mobility and could go further with the children than the robobrain could. Rat resented the fact that Asimov could better communicate with the humans and had opposable claws. Another simpler reason was that they just agreed to disagree with each other from day one.

"And what do you need now, you furry noise maker?" Asimov demanded.

Rat sat on his haunches and waved a paw in the general direction of the Vanderbraun residence, chattering irritably the whole time.

"Yes, yes, I can see you still have not quite articulated all your digits yet. Very well, I shall follow you, just don't go too fast, you little vermin. I can't slither through cracks like you can." Asimov muttered. Rat returned the favor with a snort and shuffled off, leading Asimov out of the factory and across the street.

Julia looked up when she heard the rapid patter of rat paws followed by the drone of Asimov's motorized chassis. Asimov greeted her with a wave of one of his claws.

Rat simply squeaked.

"Good morning, Julia. How may I assist you?" Asimov asked.

"Just help me up out of bed, Asimov. With James not here I may need you to repeat this for the next few days." Julia sighed.

"My pleasure, Julia. Brings back the memories of when the children where still, well, children." Asimov sputtered, helping Julia to a sitting position so she could step out of bed.

"Thank you, Asimov. You may return to your work." Julia thanked, stepping off to get started on the day.

"You're welcome, Claudia. I'll be thinking of you while I'm gone." Asimov said, his voice slightly changing.

Julia suddenly looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Asimov…you called me 'Claudia' again. Who is this Claudia?" Julia asked in a hushed tone.

Asimov suddenly became quiet and still. For a moment, no one breathed.

"Well, we're burning daylight. I'm off to the factory." Asimov suddenly announced, this time in his normal voice before bumbling off towards the house door, passing a rather astonished Julia.

The scribe folded her arms in front of her. That was not the first time the robot made a slip like that, as well as other incidents. She, as well as James, often wondered if they were memories of his previous life coming to the surface.

Meanwhile, back out on the streets, Rat ambled next to Asimov as they both were going in the same direction. Of course, they were going to part ways soon. Indeed, they could only stand each other's company for so long.

"Oh, by the way fleabag, a worker left this the other day. I'm sure you'll enjoy this." Asimov announced, tossing him a box of Dandy Boy Apples.

Rat squeaked in gratitude and proceeded to terrorize the contents of the box as Asimov wheeled off to the factory. Granted, although they did not always get along, everyone knew that deep down the two were still buddies. It was an odd of sort friendship but a friendship no less.

Not that either would ever admit to it.

* * *

Adam, Carl, Sven and James sat around the table, empty plates with scattered crumbs in front of them as they entered a rather important phase of the meal ritual. Now came the part where they would have to plan. However, James cast an uncertain glance at Adam before they started talking.

"Are you seriously drinking whisky right now? This early in the morning?" James demanded.

"Just a sip. Now, how are going to tackle this?" Adam asked. Carl scratched his chin.

"Location, location, location? Do we know where everyone is? I mean, I know we're supposed to head up north because that's where our caravans have been running into issues but I don't know much after that." Carl said.

Most of the fighting that happens between the Hierarchy and the Western Coalition takes place in the Adirondack mountains, in between where the W.C is west of the Mohawk and former Vermont. The W.C is more sporadic as they're actually a coalition of raider tribes under a single warlord. They have no problem spreading their forces. The Hierarchy keeps a tighter rein on their forces so they've beaten their enemies to a stalemate." James explained, pointing to a map on the wall.

"In between their battle lines are major caravan routes. This is where we've been having problems." Adam recalled.

"Exactly." James stated. There was a moment of silence.

"So you haven't come up with a plan yet, eh, computer?" Adam joked.

James raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why do I always have to come up with a plan?" James demanded with a wave of his prosthetic.

"Don't look at me." Sven shrugged.

James sighed in exasperation.

"Okay. How about we split up? Julia gave me these long range radios we can carry. One group of us gets dropped off at the Hierarchy end of the Hudson and the other group goes down the Mohawk to find the W.C. We'll keep in contact, gather information and then regroup and tell Francis what we got." James suggested.

"Right. James, you and Sven take care of the Hierarchy. Carl and I will take care of the Western Coalition." Adam stated.

"Sounds like a plan." James nodded, taking a sip of water before they sat in silence again.

"Why do I feel like we need more details for this?" Carl asked.

"We forgot to discuss the explosions part." Sven pointed out. The others sighed.

* * *

Isaac and David stepped off the _Clermont_ and onto the dock which abruptly led to the still muddy ground of the river side. Still, the two men could not help but look around and gather in their surroundings. Isaac remembered his dad telling him that years ago this section of the Mohawk was completely lifeless. Now, the people of the Nation had managed to set up a small station of sorts at this point of the river. It was their access point to the river trade.

"So…where do we start?" David asked before yawning.

"Guess we ask for directions." Isaac shrugged as he glanced around.

"Sounds as good an idea as any to me." David replied.

All told, David was entirely too quiet for Isaac's taste. Granted, Isaac understood that he was an extrovert. He learned this because growing up in the Vanderbraun household, there were only two extroverts out of the five, himself and Evelyn. It wasn't so bad back at home because he knew that mom or dad would at least listen to him attentively. He was not so sure about that fact with David who seemed way too lackadaisical. How could he get another conversation started with him?

"So what kind of equipment are you carrying?" Isaac asked.

David glanced about himself as if rechecking his own inventory.

"Well, I got a combat knife, submachine gun, generic assault rifle, and a few explosives." David explained.

"That's pretty basic." Isaac replied.

"True but it gets the job done and hasn't steered me wrong yet." David answered before glancing back at Isaac's equipment.

"Got yourself a Excelsior rifle, Chinese assault rifle and that nice short sword there. Anything else you packing?" David asked.

"Just a pair of grenades and a laser pistol as backup. It's a machete by the way. There's a difference between the two." Isaac smiled with a shrug.

"Oh? And what is that difference? One is shorter?" David asked sarcastically.

"One has weight behind it to actually take limbs off in short order. Or easily puncture a whole rib cage." Isaac replied.

"Right. You know, I heard one of the Liberators carries an Excelsior rifle. You wouldn't be an imitator now, would you?" David chided jokingly.

"I'm just really good at it." Isaac replied carefully with a nervous laugh.

"Were you trained by the Liberators?" David inquired. Isaac gulped air as he desperately thought of a way to not answer that.

"Um…hey, keep an eye out for Joseph Horn, we're getting into the town it appears." Isaac ordered as they walked into the outskirts of the large neighborhood. The buildings and dwellings did not look any different from any other post apocalypse abode. They were constructed of sheet metal and other debris though, as if by a throwback to their heritage, these buildings were built and arranged like the long houses their ancestors dwelt in. Stretching many feet in length and decently high, these houses could hold many people and families under one roof.

The two regulators could not help but stop at the edge of town and gaze around. Truth be told they did not know what they were expecting but this place certainly had a lot of people. Sure, the locals did wear the typical leathered brahmin skins but everything seemed more decorative, from the clothing to the beaded trinkets the people wore. If Isaac were to guess, he would have said the people of the Nation were a very creative bunch.

"I take it you're looking for me?" a monotone voice asked.

Isaac and David were pulled out of their gawking to see a young, fit looking man with a shaven head and bronzed skin. He too wore the Regulator duster.

"We're looking for a Joseph Horn." Isaac replied.

"That is I. I knew because I am the only regulator here." Joseph explained.

"Any particular reason for that?" David asked curiously.

"The people of the Nation handle their own security though I was the first to be interested in joining the Regulator ranks." Joseph answered.

"Why is that?" Isaac asked with a half smile.

"That is of no concern now. Let me gather my things. I will meet you back here in a few moments." Joseph answered and turned to leave.

This left both Isaac and David staring in dumbfounded confusion. They were not expecting the abrupt behavior that Joseph displayed.

"Quite the mishegoss." David muttered

"What did you say?" Isaac asked, squinting at him. This was getting more bizarre.

"'Quite the mishegoss. You know…crazy. Him, Joseph." David answered.

Isaac still kept an eyebrow raised as he had never heard that word before but he decided to disregard it for now and got back to waiting. They were impressed when they saw Joseph return with just a simple bag and what appeared to be a wooden band going from his left shoulder down to his right hip. Otherwise, he appeared unarmed.

"I am ready. Let us depart." Joseph announced and simply walked past them.

David and Isaac kept up with their quizzical looks.

"Wait, that's it? That's all you're bringing? Aren't you armed?" David demanded.

"I adequately armed." Joseph answered, still walking while Isaac and David stumbled behind him.

"Um, I don't see any weapons." Isaac sputtered.

"You are not looking well enough then." Joseph answered cryptically and led them out of the Nation.

* * *

Evelyn breathed heavily, so much so she could feel the moisture from her breath starting to build up around the mouth section of her helmet. She struggled to fight the panic that was constricting the very veins in her body.

_"Perhaps a Med-X could calm me down…make me think…No! I don't need to risk addiction-"_

She flinched as volley of hostile rounds scattered particles of concrete all over her armor. She heard Hardings curse in shocked awe.

"We still got a whole bunch out there. I count over ten." Birns announced.

"Can you take down one of those mutant brutes at least, Felson?" Lowell demanded.

"Can't risk hefting this Tesla cannon without getting my head shot off in this much fire, sir." The demolitions expert replied.

Another heavy rain of bullets slammed over Evelyn's head.

_"Screw it." _Evelyn thought and discreetly, if quickly, slammed a syringe into the proper receptacle in her armor. She immediately felt herself calming down, the fear starting to subside and become bearable. Oddly enough, at least on her, it worked better than psycho.

"We're going to have to get something to stun them. How many grenades do you boots have on you?" Lowell demanded, the concrete pillar he was hiding behind slowly being pecked away by bullets.

"I'm out." Birns admitted.

"I got one." Hardings replied.

"I got three more." Felson answered.

"Knight Captain, what about you?" Lowell demanded of his sister. No one could have seen it but his jaw dropped behind his helmet when Evelyn simply stood ram rod straight up and started firing with her tri-beam laser.

"Toss grenades, fire back!" Lowell shouted, trying to cover his sister's sudden and unexpected recklessness. The paladin chucked his own grenade and immediately started firing his own laser rifle, not even waiting for the grenade to go off. Two more grenades from Felson and Hardings also went up. Birns popped up to take a shot with his Excelsior rifle.

Evelyn emptied her clip before diving back under the concrete barrier. All told, they had taken out four of the mutants in that retaliation and certainly shook up the rest. She could not have known that Lowell was silently fuming and plotting to give her a stern talking to when they got out of this.

They jumped when a decisive explosion echoed from behind the line of mutants keeping them pinned down.

"What was that?" Hardings asked, still clutching his assault rifle.

"No clue, We all had our heads down." Birns replied.

"Did you do anything, Felson?" Evelyn asked, the initial rush of the Med-X starting to subside.

"No, Knight Captain. I've been pinned down here the whole time. Do you see anything, Paladin?" the demolitions expert asked of Lowell.

Lowell hesitated before replying.

"It's another group of mutants." Lowell answered.

"Great…" Hardings muttered.

"They're killing the group that pinned us down." Lowell finished.

"What?" Hardings demanded in shock as the others all turned their gaze at him.

"Take a look for yourself. Shoot the ones from the original group. Fire on the new comers if they fire at us." Lowell ordered, taking deadly effective aimed shots at the mutants now.

"For the Brotherhood!" Hardings shouted, popping up and firing his assault rifle in controlled bursts, being joined by Evelyn's tri-lasers, Felson's heavy electrical blasts and the periodic but always fatal booms of Birn's sniper rifle. In short but effective order, the first group of mutants that had pinned the Carbide Tempest down had disappeared.

What arose next was a very tense atmosphere as the Carbide Tempest knights stared through their cold, emotionless visors at the new group of mutants. All of the knights were wondering what would happen as the two groups stared each other down.

"This is the second time we've run into mutants killing each other. Care to explain what's going on? Can you talk to us about that?" Lowell asked.

His sister cast a glance at him. Although they knew that mutants could communicate, they seemed to excel very well in yelling threats and alarms, there just did not seem to be any reason for mutants and people to carry on a civil conversation.

One mutant, apparently a master, stepped out from the others. If there was anything else to distinguish him from the others, other than his own laser rifle, was a heavy leather eye patch that covered his left eye.

"…I…am…Ghemaath." The mutant announced.

"Very well, Ghemaath. I am Paladin Vanderbraun and these are the Carbide Tempest knights. Now, it's not every day we see mutants killing each other. Care to explain that?" Lowell asked.

"We are the New Human Effort. What we offer is a better existence. Our half made brethren are of lesser intelligence and can contribute nothing. We cannot correct them so it is better that we put them out of their misery. Now, we can offer to fix you, something we cannot offer them." Ghemaath announced.

Lowell felt bile run in his mouth.

"What do you mean?" the Paladin asked.

"Come with us and we will turn you into one of us. A new strain of the virus that made us has been produced recently. We can transform you. No more weaknesses, no more pain to radiation. You will be far superior." Ghemaath informed. By now, all of the knights felt their hearts jumping into their throats. They had spent years eliminating super mutants and now a new strain had gotten smarter. In fact, this new strain not only wanted to turn _them_ into similar abominations, it had made the logical excuse as to why to do that.

"We cannot accept this offer. We prefer to be as we are." Lowell answered carefully.

"This offer is non-negotiable. If you will not comply, you shall be eliminated." Ghemaath stated.

What he said next in his inhumane voice, though often heard, rattled the knights' spines like never before.

"We are the future." Ghemaath finished decisively.

"Some of us would rather remain the way we are." Lowell shot back, shouldering his laser rifle.

"Then you shall perish. Soldiers, fire!" Ghemaath ordered.

"Dang it, brace yourselves." Hardings muttered.

"Out of the frying pan, into the fire." Felson added. Birns suddenly moved as if he spotted something.

"Guys, wait. Something-"

And yet a final explosion interrupted the whole scene.

There were several moments of confusion as no one was quite sure what caused the ruckus but Lowell had little time to figure it out as the mutants started firing on them again on Ghemaath's orders.

It didn't help that they were packing missile launchers.

Pinned down again and desperately trying to avoid the blasts from the missile, Lowell was still able to pick out something that made his heart skip. He immediately took action.

"Evelyn, Hardings, help me guard this back entrance here." Lowell ordered, pointing to a stairwell that led up from the ruined bottom of the building.

"What for? They're out there that way." Hardings motioned.

"They're sending mutants to storm the building. I can hear them charging." Lowell answered. The Paladin was a bit alarmed by this. This was a rather intelligent tactic these mutants were displaying. It was certainly an improvement over the usual brute tactic of "shoot at the target until it bleeds."

Even more alarming was when Lowell heard the charging mutants stop dead in their tracks, their bodies dropping one by one on the ground. This was getting more bizarre.

As if on cue, a human form seemed to instantly materialize in front of him.

"You do know you're in trouble right?" the stranger told him.

Despite the hail of fire falling all around them, the knights of the Carbide Tempest were too stupefied to react to what just happened. The stranger wore a strange, blackish body suit with a full helmet that hid the man's face. In his hands he cradled an infiltrator rifle.

It became apparent that he was in fact wearing a stealth suit.

"Who are you?" Lowell demanded in almost indignant shock. Evelyn meanwhile was silently trying to keep herself from downing another Med-X. Being pinned down this long was starting to terrify her more and more. She could feel her heart starting to race again and she was a bit dismayed the feel her fingers starting to tremble inside her gloves.

"Your ticket out of here. Just hold out and follow my lead. I can get us out of here, just make sure no more of the uglies get up here." The stranger replied before touching what must have been a transmitter attached to his helmet.

"Mayday, mayday. I am surrounded by hostiles, the area is hot. Please send an armed rescue team to my location. We have five to pick up beside me." The stranger announced. Meanwhile the Carbide troopers glanced at each other. Something about this was not sitting well with them.

"Just hang on now and keep them at bay." The stranger told them.

"What help did you send for?" Hardings asked.

"Vertibirds. And before you complain, yes you better take them because this is your only chance to get out of here alive."

Their mouths went dry with the realization that their only hope rest in what was apparently an Enclave operative.

* * *

It had been a long day for Julia. Carl had not been there to help with the food pantry. Without Sven the production plant workers seemed to be a little disoriented. James was not around to help her with the medical care of the people and it seemed like all of her administrative duties had doubled.

At least the day was over.

Still, for Julia it was not much solace. After so many years of at least having James around, if not Isaac as well, the place seemed so empty. Julia knew she never really liked loneliness but this was reminding her all too well why she didn't like it. Her heart felt as empty as her house looked. She almost wondered if she would just go straight to bed so she wouldn't have to deal with it. After all, she was tired.

Sitting down heavily on the couch, almost sulking really, she let out a moping sigh as she contemplated if there was really anything else she wanted to do. What she really wanted was for James, Isaac or the twins back. It really was too empty in the house.

She looked over when she noticed Rat furiously struggling to climb up on the couch. She was about to help him when he finally made it onto the cushions and immediately waddled up to her. She couldn't help but smile when the rodent lounged down next to her, resting his head on her lap as his beady eyes looked up at her. He even let out an unhappy sounding snort.

"I know…I know…" Julia muttered as she gently stroked his head.

"I miss them too."


	8. Chapter 8

"_Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength."_

The Dalai Lama

* * *

"_Daddy, it hurts" Evelyn whimpered. _

_As usual, the children and Rat had gone exploring through the ruins again. Rat had made sure they behaved and stayed around the areas that were designated as relatively safe. Unfortunately, no one could have known that one of the ruined buildings was starting to fail. A beam gave way and sent some concrete raining on the four small people. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious, just a bunch of cuts, scrapes and bruises for all of them._

_Except Rat. The lucky punk managed to get out of it unhurt. Evelyn, however, got the worst of it, a large, though superficial cut, going down her leg. In all reality, it was not very serious in the least but still, it was very distressing to a young girl. _

"_Daddy, it hurts so much." Evelyn repeated mournfully. James quieted her gently. _

"_It's all right, Evelyn. I'm here. You'll be all right. You'll be all right." James replied, easily bandaging her wounds._

_

* * *

_

James and Sven stepped off the _Hammer_ and continued down the dock. They knew that ahead of them would be an outpost that was under the control of the Hierarchy. In fact, it was very likely that they might bump into a few Hierarchy citizens at this very port. Still, both Regulators felt a little nervous. They looked back at the _Hammer_ which was now starting to pull away, Adam and Carl were both waving to them from the railing. They had agreed to keep in contact via the radios and post each other their progress that way.

And yet they still felt greatly inadequate.

With nothing left to do, they both swung around and started shuffling uneasily down the dock towards the road. They were under the impression that they would run into Hierarchy officials sooner or later. At least, that was what they hoped. They also prayed it wouldn't begin with bullets flying.

"Hey Sven, do me a favor?" James asked.

"What's that?" Sven's muffled voice came from his breathing mask.

"Let me do the talking. Try not to burn anything either." James finished.

"What if it shoots at us?" Sven asked.

"Sure. Then you can burn it. Just uh…" James searched for how he wanted to finish the rest of his statement.

"Just what?" Sven inquired.

"Try to be…diplomatic." James encouraged. He stared when Sven tilted his head in curiosity.

"Right. Incinerate stuff diplomatically." Sven finally muttered.

James sighed.

* * *

Back on the _Hammer_, Carl and Adam watched from the bridge as the warship (indeed, the _Hammer_ was a destroyer before the bombs fell) plowed through the waters. Adam wondered which he wanted more, a glass of alcohol or a cigarette but then decided it would be best to lay off on both for awhile. Instead, he looked over at his giant friend.

"You know who I haven't seen in awhile? Sufia." Adam said. Carl grunted.

"None of us have seen her in awhile." The giant ship captain replied.

"Really? What happened to that nice Muslim woman?" Adam asked in surprised. Carl cast a similar glance at him.

"She disappeared over a decade ago. She got married and if I remember correctly they had a kid. The family went down to New York City so she could be closer to the shipping hubs as she was a shipboard Regulator. Well, her husband succumbed to a sickness and she started taking on the crazier shipping routes that led out of state. She went off one day and disappeared." Carl explained. Adam shook his head in disappointment.

"That's a real big shame." Adam murmured.

"Yeah…didn't realize you've been that out of the loop, boss." Carl replied. Adam glanced at him.

"Well, maybe it's time you got me back in the loop. Just how do you keep this place running?" Adam asked, gesturing towards the whole of the _Hammer_. Carl chuckled.

"Well, I'd be greatly overworked if I didn't have the help of my first mate, Poseidon." Carl answered.

"Poseidon? Did I just hear that right? Is that even a name?" Adam inquired.

"It is. Supposedly the god of the sea in some mythologies." A ragged voice answered him.

Adam turned around to find himself staring at a ghoul. The devastated human carried himself with dignity though he seemed to be a bit on the defensive. He wore regular clothes and ankle high boots, something Adam assumed helped him to keep the water out. What stood out the most was the fact that a long harpoon was latched across the ghoul's back.

"I take it you're Poseidon? How'd you get a name like that?" Adam asked with a disarming smile.

"Don't remember anymore. Probably a nickname. Maybe it was a name given to me after I became a ghoul. It's been awhile. I was alive before the bombs fell, you know." Poseidon explained with a shrug.

"Ah, well, thanks for enlightening me." Adam said, patting Poseidon on the shoulder before strutting out of the bridge. The ghoul watched the Regulator leave before looking at Carl.

"He actually led you guys into danger and got you out of it?" Poseidon asked. Carl stifled a chuckle.

"Well, I think he had a few more screws bolted in back in the day. Not that he had many to begin with." Carl replied.

* * *

Julia sighed. As far as days went, this was not the worse day imaginable. In fact, it was not that it was looking like a bad day. It was the fact that everything was so busy, especially without James and Carl to help her. Now, her duties running the city, making sure the fishing industry operated as it should, tending to those who were sick and getting injured and making sure they had adequate security was starting to pile up on her.

At least she had Cindy and Asimov to make sure the production plant kept running. She could also count on Rat keeping the majority of the town's kids preoccupied and out of trouble. However, the rest of the responsibilities were up to her.

How did she ever do this when she had to juggle three of her own children back in the day?

Gathering her strength, Julia left the fishing docks, passing the usual three loiterers that hung out at the tavern overlooking the docks, and continued down the street. She was mentally going down her checklist of things to do when she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching her. The scribe curiously lifted her head to spot Cindy walking up to her.

Cindy had earned a few new, if rather small, scars along her face over the past twenty years. She still wore her blond hair into two braided ponytails oddly enough. However, what was most striking was the eye patch she was now forced to wear. A misplaced explosive in the middle of a fight had sent a stray fragment right into her eye. She was lucky it didn't plunge any further and into her brain but it did a good job ending her career in the field.

"Julia, Francis sent a new squad to help the security around here." Cindy announced. Julia couldn't help but smile.

"Oh good!" Julia grinned happily.

"Erm, but the squad, well, they're the Boys." Cindy replied with a frown. Julia's countenance also equally fell. She buried her head in her hands and rubbed her temples.

"Of all the squads he had to send…why did he have to send the Boys?" Julia grumbled.

* * *

The Carbide Tempest squad was desperately pinned down and it did not help that they knew that their only ticket out of this hell was the arrival of Enclave vertibirds. Were they simply stepping out of the jaws of one enemy to fall into the hands of another?

Still, it was a matter of surviving the super mutants, the New Human Effort, first.

"Where are your stupid vertibirds?" Hardings screamed at the stealth soldier. The operative glanced at him.

"Arriving soon enough. Can't you stand a little pressure?" the soldier chided.

"We are pinned down and getting stormed!" Hardings screeched as they all opened fire on the mutants charging up the stairs, unable to even fire from their windows overlooking the mutants outside.

"They're coming!" Evelyn shouted just as another wave rushed the stairs. They could tell the mutants were compensating, learning from their mistakes. The latest waves to storm the building were wearing metal plates that were giving them a level of protection against the defenders' rounds. It was taking all six of them to take out the mutants.

As if to seal the deal, Evelyn only saw a grenade fly up the stairs before going off. The deafening explosion overwhelmed her senses and in a moment everything went white. For the briefest of seconds, Evelyn wondered if she had in fact met her end.

And in a moment, her world came swimming back. Birns was helping her up, his echoing voice explaining to her that she had been stunned but her armor had protected her. Looking over, Evelyn was surprised to see Lowell lunge on a large super mutant master who was armed with a sledge hammer, her brother brandishing a ripper in one hand, his palm blade machete in the other. With a mechanical roar of the ripper and a single thrust of the machete, the mutant master fell with a gurgle.

"Regroup, we got another wave coming." The Enclave stealth soldier announced.

"We cannot keep going like this. Where's your backup?" Felson demanded. Before he could get a response, they heard mechanical voices issue from the sky.

"_This is Uriel coming in on approach vector, opening fire." _Out of the sky, a heavily armed vertibird roared on a descending path, a torrent of laser fire issuing from its gatling lasers as missiles screamed off its underbelly.

"_Michael also on site, engaging." _A second vertibird appeared, also heavily armed with similar weaponry, and started sending fire into the mass of super mutants.

"Retreat! Retreat my brothers!" Gheemath could be heard shouting over the chaos.

"_Athena, this is Uriel. The landing zone is ready for pickup." _

"_Understood, Uriel. Athena approaching now." _

The Carbide Tempest troopers could not help but gape in awe as a third vertibird quickly swung right into the open building space they were hiding, the Enclave stealth soldier rapidly rushing them into the airship.

"Quick, hurry! Get on!" the operative goaded, practically tossing Evelyn inside.

Everything was going too fast for the Brotherhood of Steel knights. Just a second ago they were fighting for their lives and now it seemed like the adrenaline was leaving them, exhaustion quickly flooding in on its heels. Only the massive explosions coming from the fire of the two attack vertibirds was keeping their awe.

"_This is Michael. Area is secured; hostiles are disappearing into the city infrastructure. We are unable to pursue." _

"_Understood, Michael, head back to base. Athena, you are clear to go. Uriel heading out." _

"Strap yourselves in, I intend to hit the throttle." An older woman from the cockpit told them. Apparently, this was the woman who answered to "Athena." Lowell meanwhile was already glaring at the Enclave agent from behind his helmet.

"What is your name and what exactly are you planning on doing to us?" Lowell demanded, almost as a threat. The enclave operative simply popped off his helmet, revealing himself to be a man of about 40 years of age.

"I have no name. Just call me Delta Sierra. We will be returning you to your base. I must have a word with your Elder." Delta Sierra replied.

"And what makes you think we can trust you?" Lowell growled.

"Let's start with the fact that I knew your parents. Did they ever tell you how they worked with me?" Delta Sierra asked with a smirk.

"You are a liar!" Lowell shouted.

"No, merely a pragmatist…You are so much like your mother." Delta Sierra practically sighed.

Isaac listened to the sound of the sand and dust crunching under their footsteps. Indeed, he was feeling rather nervous. This was the furthest west he had ever been and nothing was familiar at all. Everything was barren. Rolling hills covered with dust, rocks and the scattered, broken hulls of ancient trees with just a few sparsely dabbed unhealthy trees just barely clinging to life, possibly holding on only because of mutation.

It seemed like only Joseph Horn knew where they were going. He was leading them in a single, undeterred line towards the south west. Their Native American guide walked like a man on a mission, each stride practically radiated determination and direction. Isaac meanwhile felt like he and David were simply ambling on behind him.

"So how do you know this is the right way to go?" Isaac asked Joseph curiously. David meanwhile kept his eyes hidden under his cap.

"Compass. This is the proper direction to Washington DC." Joseph replied in his low voice. He did not even bother to turn around and look as Isaac.

"But shouldn't we be following a path or something?" Isaac asked.

"There is no path. Besides, what roads remain may have more marauders to worry about, preying on travelers." Joseph answered. Isaac silently nodded. He was a bit torn about Joseph's sentiment but had to agree with the logic. Yes, it was their job as Regulators to clear out the raiders and bandits but the reality was that there were only three of them and they had a specific mission they were suppose to carry out. It was not smart to dive headlong through the most difficult path which most certainly could get them killed. Besides, he could still hear Francis' words echoing in his mind that this could be the most important thing for New York.

Isaac was jarred out of his contemplation when he noticed Joseph stand stock still and retrieved that curious piece of wood that had been strung across him from his shoulder to his hip.

"Is that…a bow?" Isaac asked in shock. He had only read about them in the few books that he could find in the ruins.

"Yes. Compound bow, laminated to Death Claw bones." Joseph answered emotionlessly. Isaac wondered if it was in annoyance.

"What does it do?" David asked with squinted eyes. He had never seen, much less heard of a bow before. Joseph had already drawn back a long and deadly looking arrow, tightening the bow to a taunt.

"Wait, if that's a bow and you got the arrow then that means there's something you're about to sho-" Isaac was interrupted by the powerful snap of the string. The three men looked over to see a dead molerat off in the distance, Joseph's arrow sticking out of it into the air like some kind of beacon.

"Breakfast." Joseph said simply.

Oddly enough, David had declined on the fresh molerat meat and simply ate one of his cups of noodles that he had packed for the journey. Still, after a quick breakfast, the three were off again. Regardless, Isaac's restlessness had not left him. At least his family knew enough to at least say _something_ to him at intervals so that he was at ease. It's not easy being an extrovert in Post Apocalypsia.

"So…Joseph, just how exactly are you armed anyway? Is that bow all you have?" Isaac asked, trying to start conversation.

"No." Joseph answered.

"No?" Isaac asked incredulously. Did this guy even know how to carry a conversation?

"I have more than a bow." Joseph clarified.

"Well, what else do you have?" Isaac pressed.

"I do not see why this is important." Joseph replied bluntly.

"I'm just curious, man. That's the first time I've ever seen someone use a bow out here and I don't even see an assault rifle on you." Isaac answered, a bit annoyed.

"I have a bow, sling, tomahawk and a revolver." Joseph finally revealed. Now even David was curious.

"What's a tomahawk?" David asked. Isaac nodded in agreement. He had been wondering the same thing.

"It is a traditional hatchet of my people." Joseph answered with a sigh of impatience.

"Dude, that's awesome!" David said, clearly impressed.

"Hey, wait a minute, why do you have your bow out aga-" Isaac was interrupted yet again by the bow snapping. They glanced over to see a large vulture impaled by the very same arrow they saw only a moment ago.

"Lunch." Joseph announced.

* * *

James and Sven continued on the dust path that meandered through the hills. They had been following this path for half a day and at least James could tell he was becoming paranoid with the absolute lack of people to be found. This reminded him of the badlands where, if there were no people to be found, then most likely the first one you did run into had every intent of shooting your face off. He was not sure what Sven was feeling. It was hard to discern that considering the pyromaniac constantly had his blast helmet/gas mask on.

And then his gut told him something.

James immediately squatted down, his prosthetic arm going up as a silent warning for Sven to stop. The pyromaniac glanced at him for a moment, his mind taking a second to try and remember what that stance and gesture meant. When his demented mind finally recalled its meaning, Sven promptly dropped gracelessly to the ground as if diving from an imminent blast. James cast a worried glance at him.

"Been awhile, huh?" James asked quietly.

"Hey, at least I still remember how to burn crap." Sven grumbled through his breathing mask.

"God have mercy on us all the day you forget that, Sven." James replied before peering through the scope of his Excelsior rifle.

"You see anything?" Sven asked impatiently. He had to wait a moment.

"Looks like there are two armed men behind a barricade up the path. They do not look like raiders, though." James answered.

"Then what do they look like?" Sven inquired.

"Judging by their relatively maintained looks and combat armor, it looks like these guys might actually be paid to do their job." James speculated.

"So you're saying that they might be Hierarchy?"

"I sure hope so. I would hate for the shooting to start this early."

Carefully, the two Regulators got off the ground and continued on their way, both of them anxiously watching the reaction of the two specks they knew to be armed men off in the distance. Out here in the wastes, even the slightest ill composed gesture, miscalculated word or poorly articulated tone could cause an unnecessary exchange of fire. At least the raiders had some kind of decency in that they would cast the questions aside and just shoot at you. Different factions and groups did not always have the same codes of etiquette. It could make first contact very, very nerve wracking.

"Halt, who goes there?" one of the armed men demanded as Sven and James walked up the path. The two guards both were clutching their weapons but, seeing that James and Sven did not have their imminently ready, they simply mirrored the Regulators. Sven look at James, remembering the deal that James was suppose to do the talking.

"We are Regulators. We're looking to enter Hierarchy land." James replied calmly.

"You've come to the right place. What's your business here? If there's a wanted criminal you're after, our security forces can handle it." The guard explained.

"We have a message to deliver to your…leader." James answered, deciding on a generic term for whoever they took their orders from.

"Wait, you mean our superior officer or the Director?" the guards asked, appearing a bit confused. James glanced as Sven and shrugged.

"I guess the Director." James answered limply.

"Hahaha…and what would you want the Director for?" the guards asked with a mirthful laugh.

"Like I said, we're bringing a message to her from the Regulators of the Albany and New York City districts." James replied, getting a bit annoyed.

"And how do you two Regulators expect to get an audience with the Director?" the other guard chuckled.

"Because we're the Liberators." James replied, letting a crooked smile form on his lips.

"Oh. Well then…keep going along the path until you reach Haven." The guards suddenly answered, becoming serious as if smacked across the face. They were even polite enough to step aside and salute Sven and James as they passed by. James simply nodded to them. Sven gave them a thumbs up and a parting blessing.

"May you never die of smoke inhalation. Immolation is the better way to go! Hahahaha!"

"Sven…you're a very, _very_ disturbing man." James murmured when they had gone several feet.

"So? I would not be all right any other way." Sven answered as if explaining the situation.

"And in a very disturbing way, I think you're right." James concurred.

* * *

Adam and Carl continued to walk down the worn and beaten skeleton of a paved road. They had left the _Hammer_ on a dock at the end of the Mohawk several miles back, Carl placing Poseidon in charge in his absence. In the meantime, they had to hope that this path would get them to the Western Coalition eventually. In the meantime, they could not help but notice just how barren everything was. Ruined telephone poles and limp power lines stood like periodic beacons while every now and then they would pass the forgotten hulls of a vehicle. Still, the two men were nervous. Carl had his gatling laser ready to go at a moment's notice. Adam meanwhile was brandishing his new infiltrator rifle.

"So…how do you think we'll know we've found the Western Coalition?" Carl asked, surprised anything still lived past his desolate plane of earth.

"I don't know. They're a raider alliance so I'm guessing the usual raider trademarks; dead, mutilated bodies strewn like ornaments all over the place." Adam replied with a shrug.

"That's not very comforting." Carl replied unhappily with a frown.

"Well, who knows? Maybe they're civilized; they might just be rough around the edges." Adam suggested, trying to go the opposite direction. He learned a long time ago it was not a good idea to upset the giant.

"What makes you think they won't shoot on us at first sight?" Carl inquired curiously.

Adam glanced up at him and smirked. "See these, L insignia's on our sleeves?" Adam asked, pointing at his own on his duster.

"Yes." Carl replied.

"That's what'll keep them from shooting on us." Adam answered.

* * *

"So, Isaac?" David finally asked as they continued down the endless sand, rocks and general desolation that was the wastes of North America. Isaac at least took comfort in the fact that there seemed to be more hulls of trees which generally meant more shelter and better means of cover. Of course, David finally making conversation seemed like a spring of cool water in a desert.

"Yes?" Isaac asked, perhaps with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"I noticed those two necklaces you got on your neck. I figured out the first one is a crucifix but is that really a Brotherhood of Steel holotag?" David inquired in surprised curiosity.

"Erm, yes, yes it is." Isaac replied quietly, looking off in the distance.

"Do you just wear as a talisman or something is that actually _yours_?" David asked earnestly.

"Yeah, it's mine." Isaac answered flatly.

"Really? You used to go clunking around in all that big, bad power armor? Geez, what are you doing as a Regulator now? Where's your armor?" David asked, clearly caught up in the idea that his new best friend was once a Brotherhood of Steel knight.

"The Brotherhood is not too fond of anyone walking off with any of their technology and equipment. I simply told them I wanted to resign. I left." Isaac answered with a shrug.

"Whatever for?" David asked, completely appalled.

"I wanted to do something better." Isaac answered and refused to talk about it anymore.

Joseph in front of them promptly dived behind a tree.

"Get cover, we got raiders." Joseph hissed. Isaac and David only had a moment to gape at him before a bullet exploded into a tree trunk behind them. The two Regulators immediately sought protection to hide behind.

"So is your bow going to do us any good in a fight now?" David asked Joseph skeptically. Isaac meanwhile tried to figure out where the raiders were firing from, taking glances while keeping his rifle ready.

"It will do just fine." Joseph answered David with a bit of a scowl.

"But you have to line it up and pull it back. You'll be mince meat by the tim-"

The spotted a raider suddenly hit the ground, impaled to the earth by an arrow to the chest. Joseph simply smirked at David while the sarcastic Regulator tried to think of a comeback.

"Well, don't tell me he's dinner." Joseph muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

"_Only one deception is possible in the infinite sense, self-deception."_

Kierkegaard

* * *

**_The memory of a Liberator from days long gone by..._**

"_Come on, Adam, come on, think here! Geez, first mission without the rest of the guys and I am well out of my territory. This is the part where Sven would have sent out a fire ball causing chaos on their lines while Carl would mow them down and James would pick off the more distant ones. All I'd need to do was just sneak up and finish off the stragglers. _

_Watch the bullet! Darn that was a close one._

_Come on, Adam, think. How are you going to get your sorry hide out of this one? Stealth boy, move quick, throw fast._

_Here goes nothing."_

_

* * *

_

Julia mentally braced herself as she saw the four familiar figures of the Boys approaching her down the street. Her jaw actually clenched as walked at a grim pace. This was not lost on Cindy who could not help but give a bit of a sympathetic smile.

Truth be told, the Boys were not bad at all. They were sincere, honest, good Regulators who were barely out of their teens. The reason why Julia was so uneasy to greet them, and to an extent Cindy as well, was because of one minor problem.

If there was ever such a thing as fan boys in the wasteland, it was these four.

Anthony, Juan, Otto and Gerald arrived in Albany as a wandering band of lost boys the year before Julia and James sent their own kids off to the Brotherhood. However, they had heard about the famous Liberators all their lives and wanted to be Regulators just like their heroes for the longest time. It was beyond their wildest dreams to meet the five Liberators in real life, much less live alongside them. It was around that time they started training under the Liberators to be Regulators.

It was quite obnoxious when they started invading every single moment of their lives. Ironically, they did not even realize the annoyance they were causing; they sincerely wanted to be involved. The problem was they practically smothered the Liberators. The four boys even did their best to become friends with Lowell and Isaac. Isaac at least did his best to get along with them, Lowell treated them with a tolerat indifference. Julia had mixed feelings on how the Boys treated Evelyn. She couldn't decide if they treated her as a princess to be waited hand and foot on or a goddess to be adored.

"Anthony, Juan, Otto, Gerald! It's good to see you boys again." Julia greeted with the brightest plastic smile she could stamp on her face.

"Hey, Missus V. How can we help you?" Anthony greeted with a rather zealous handshake.

"I'm doing fine. Is there a particular reason Francis sent you all over here?" Julia asked, her plastic smile starting to fail as she scrambled to find a reason to keep them preoccupied with anything else other than trying to help her.

"Well, Francis said we were simply to oversee the security of Albany because your husband and Carl are gone but we'll be more than happy to-"

"Good! Well, I'll let you boys do just that. You know what to do." Julia interrupted quickly, jumping at the opportunity.

"But we'd be more than willing to help out with other matters such as the factory or-"

"No, those are running perfectly fine, Anthony." Julia interjected quickly again before she suddenly remembered something.

"Well, actually, maybe you can also help with the Mirelurk fishing." Julia conceded. The faces of all four of the Boys lit up like happy little angels.

"Are you sure that's everything, missus V? Need any help around the house or-"

"No, that will be all, Anthony. Off with you." Julia said firmly, her plastic smile finally disintegrating as she waved them off with a shooing hand.

"Well, just give us a call then." Anthony offered before turning to Otto, Juan and Gerald to give them orders. Julia meanwhile made a U-turn and walked off, breathing a sigh of relief as she did. Cindy could not help but giggle as she joined the weary Liberator.

* * *

"Well, they got us on their terms and conditions. We better turn this around." David warned, blind firing his assault rifle in the general direction of the raiders while he remained behind the cover of a tree stump. Bullet holes and wooden splinters were erupting all around them as the three Regulators tried to figure the situation out under all the chaos. Joseph had an arrow notched and half pulled as he waited for an opening. Meanwhile, Isaac looked like he had an idea.

"I'm going to throw this grenade. As soon as it explodes, don't give them time to recover, just keep hitting them." Isaac informed, the others nodding in agreement.

Isaac promptly pulled the pin and hurled the ordnance. The following explosion jarred the earth and sent a shower of pebbles, dirt and rocks on them.

"Now!" Isaac shouted, both he and David shouldering their assault rifles and firing madly at the raiders, Joseph also standing erect with a deadly taut bow.

The raiders had been taken completely by surprised and those that were still standing were quickly mowed down or impaled with arrows. Those that were still on the ground were not moving.

"Reloading." David announced, expertly fishing for an ammo clip from his belt.

"David, duck!" Isaac shouted, noticing a raider suddenly moving from cover and aiming a rifle at his comrade.

A shrill war cry split the air and before anyone could move, they saw the raider suddenly plummet back to the ground, a styled hatched lodged deep in his head. Isaac and David stared at Joseph in shock.

"Dude…you totally need to show me how to do that." David blathered.

"You need a tomahawk." Joseph replied simply.

"Could you make me one?" David asked.

"No." Joseph answered, leaving to retrieve his hatched.

"Aww, why not?" David complained.

"No." Joseph repeated, starting to retrieve the fingers.

Behind both of them, Isaac rolled his eyes though he could not help but smile at the banter between the two. Returning his assault rifle to its proper place on his side, he once again readied his Excelsior rifle before using the scope as a search lens to scan the way ahead of them. It appeared to be nothing but more dust, tree hulls, rocks and rolling hills further on. Isaac let a crooked smile cross his face as he continued to listen to David haggle with a stubborn Joseph. Isaac could feel himself really starting to miss Rat. At least he knew the rodent was quiet but did not mind when Isaac needed to talk his little ear off.

* * *

Julia stepped into her house for a quick lunch break. She did her best to keep the place as neat as possible. It was cozy enough with a family inside but now even the small place seemed much too spacious with only her and Rat. In fact, she found the large rodent sitting on a coffee table, staring at the family photographs.

Rat had gotten into a habit of staring at the photographs for a short period of time each day. Julia noticed it started right after the children left for the Brotherhood. She speculated it was Rat's way of trying to remember his friends in their absence. The rodent would probably spend anywhere from thirty minutes to two staring at the frozen faces in the photographs. They had gathered quite a collection throughout the years. There was a picture of her and James shortly after they had gotten married. The most recent one after that was a photograph of Isaac shortly before the twins were born. He and Rat were staring wide eyed into the camera. A third photograph was of Isaac and the toddling Lowell and Evelyn while an exasperated Rat tried to keep an eye on all three of them. Asimov was in the background also trying to keep order. Even further on was an image of James with the three children when they were older, just before they became teenagers showing them how to use firearms.

The latter years showed a proud Julia standing with the three armored forms of her children, back from their first year training with the Brotherhood. Another photo captured James, Sven, Carl and Adam talking in the streets of Albany, Rat sitting on his haunches at their feet. Shown even later was one of Isaac back from his first mission alone as a Regulator, Rat hanging on his back and peeking over his shoulder to stare into the photograph.

The irony was not lost on Rat. When Isaac was younger Rat had often tugged and pulled the young child in the right direction but when Isaac became older, it was Rat who was carried along by Isaac.

"I miss them too." Julia simply said as she continued to prepare lunch. Rat glanced at her before returning to stare at the photographs. Julia looked up when she saw the door open. She found one of the town children peeking through the door.

"Mrs. Vanderbraun, can Rat come out and play?" the child asked, hands clasped nervously behind his back. Julia stifled a smile.

"Are you children finished with your chores and classes?" Julia asked sternly, arms folded in front of her.

"Yes, ma'am," the child answered meekly.

"Very well. Rat, shoo! Go keep an eye on them." Julia walked over and waved the rodent off. Not that she felt she needed to. Rat let out an excited squeak and hopped off the table, bounced onto the couch and then scuttled to the floor before shuffling out to join the children. Julia was surprised when she saw Cindy again at the door.

"Julia, you must come quickly, the Boys said they needed you ASAP." Cindy announced, rapidly walking into the house. Julia did not bother trying to hide a frustrated sigh.

"What do they want now?" Julia grumbled.

"I'm not sure, they only said something about super mutants." Cindy said, turning pale.

Julia stared at her a moment before tearing open a forgotten wooden chest to retrieve her plasma rifle. Pulling out the weapon into the light, she activated the implement of destruction, the rifle glowing and humming an ominous green before she looked back at Cindy.

"Where are they?" Julia demanded.

* * *

A gang of four raiders crouched behind some boulders overlooking a worn pathway. They were the new vultures of the wastes, watching to pick off what remained of the bleached bones of this world. Business was slow for them but still, if they were patient enough they knew this road would at least provide some poor soul that they could send on its way to the next life. It just so happened that they were stalking what they hoped to be their latest victim. The only problem was that this particular one had a different kind of aura to him.

"Perfect, he's all alone." The Leader whispered to the others. They continued to watch the lone man as he walked slowly along.

"I don't know boss. He's wearing a metal helmet and he's got a supersledge and gatling laser to boot. Plus, I mean, he's huge! Even if that's a really heavy armor he's wearing under his coat, he's freaking big." The Cautious one replied.

"There's four of us and he doesn't know were here. We can take him out." The sadist muttered.

"Well, just kill him quick. He might be a Regulator, judging from his coat. Still, that doesn't make him a superman." The Matron said.

"Wait…he's stopping…" Cautious announced. Sure enough, the giant in the road stopped in his tracks before cautiously readying his gatling laser. He seemed to turn his head rapidly from side to side, looking for something.

"There's no way he could have sensed us…" Leader murmured in disbelief.

The Regulator looked up in their direction.

"…Are you sure?" Cautious squeaked.

A bullet popped off the front of the boulder they were cowering behind.

The raiders immediately dove behind cover, completely bewildered on how they were spotted. All around them, angry laser bursts scorched the ground while filling their ears with chaos.

"How did he do that? Where did that bullet come from?" Matron shrieked.

"That's it, I'm sick of this!" Sadist shouted before shouldering his assault rifle and standing over the boulder. His comrades watched in horror as Sadist's body was sliced in two from the laser bursts before he could even pull the trigger of his assault rifle.

And then it suddenly came to a halt. The laser blasts ceased altogether. Ignoring the torn open body of Sadist, the raiders looked at each other with wild eyes.

"Think he didn't notice the rest of us?" Cautious asked.

It was the last thing they ever heard before a barrage of silenced bullets tore into each and every one of them.

"Hey Adam, you still alright?" Carl called from the roadside.

Adam let the veil of his stealth boy fall away as he slung his infiltrator rifle across his body. He took his time as he removed the fingers from the bodies.

"I'm doing good, Carl. I'll be with you in one moment." Adam hollered back.

"We should really get going. We don't even know how much more we have to go before we get to these Western Coalition guys." Carl replied.

"Hold on, Carl. They're not going anywhere." Adam shot back.

"Well, neither are we!" Carl shrugged.

"Will you just wait, wise guy!" Adam growled with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

For several long, agonizing minutes the Carbide Tempest troopers waited and listened to the drone of the vertibird's rotors. The Enclave agent who called himself "Delta Sierra" seemed to be a man in his forties though he did not give an air of one who felt the burden of age. Forty years was a number few wastelanders ever saw.

Still, Evelyn could not help but feel some curiosity about the man who hailed under the banner of the Brotherhood's sworn enemy. Had what he said been true? Did their mother and father once work with him? If so, in what capacity? Evelyn believed beyond doubt that her parents were not Enclave. However, even she knew that her mother and father had lived very dramatic lives and she would have no hard time believing that there was an Enclave agent somewhere in their saga.

She was also fairly certain that her brother, Lowell, was still fuming. She guessed he just couldn't stomach the idea.

"Athena, try to establish radio contact with the Brotherhood base. I do not fancy the idea of you dodging fire trying to land this bird." The agent ordered calmly. The Carbide Tempest knights noted, with mixed emotions, that they were indeed getting close to their home base.

"Brotherhood of Steel base, this is Enclave pilot Athena. I have a team of your knights onboard my ship and my superior would like to speak with you." Athena radioed. They were met with a moment of silence.

"I repeat, Brotherhood of Steel base, this is an Enclave vertibird. We have some of your knights onboard that we will return peacefully to you and an officer who wishes to speak with you. Do you copy? Over." Athena repeated. Delta Sierra seemed to grumble in exasperation and squeezed into the cockpit to speak into the radio.

"Elder Hail, this is Delta Sierra, I doubt you'd have forgotten me. This is a matter of great urgency. Perhaps more so than our little sortie back at Liberty Island some two decades ago." Delta Sierra muttered into the machine. They were rewarded by a rather unenthusiastic sounding message.

"Understood, Enclave pilot. You have been given permission to land. Be warned, it better be just your ship. Any others will be shot out of the sky. This is your only warning."

Within moments, every Brotherhood of Steel member who could even lift a firearm or weapon was assembled in the base that overlooked the ancient New York City docks. An area was cleared to allow the vertibird to land but every gun was already aimed at the airship in the sky. Standing closest to where the machine would land was the elite Iron Storm squad commanded by Paladin Rufus and his lieutenant, Knight Captain Fernando.

"Sure brings back memories, eh, Rufus?" Knight Captain Fernando asked.

"Quiet." Rufus scolded his second in commanded.

The rotors billowed dust in the winds it created as it came to an expert halt on the ground. Despite the cacophony of the turbines, the knights stood stock still, their weapons still firmly trained on the ship though none were quite sure what would transpire next.

A few trainees flinched when the side door swung open. Cautiously, one at a time, the knights of the Carbide Tempest filed out of the ship and disappeared into the crowd. None could tell their expressions behind their cold helmets though they could all imagine the shame that must have been etched on their features. It certainly looked like they had been captured by the Enclave.

Last to leave were the Vanderbraun twins, first Knight Captain Evelyn and then Paladin Lowell. Lowell seemed hesitant to simply leave as he still faced the ship as he walked off. Sure enough, poking a cautious head out of the door, the Enclave agent showed himself. An odd noise rang through the air which turned out to be the sound of scores of rifles being repositioned and aimed in unison. Blatantly disregarding the danger, Delta Sierra simply hopped out of the ship.

"Drop your weapons!" Paladin Rufus growled.

"Oh please, I mean you no harm." Delta Sierra grumbled, shooting the Paladin a dirty look as he raised his open palms to only shoulder height.

"Weapons down. Stand down, knights." A strong voice sounded. It turned out to be Elder Hail parting a path through the assembled knights.

"Well…we meet again, Enclave soldier." Elder Hail greeted unenthusiastically, folding his arms in front of him.

"That we do. Unfortunately, I wish it were on better terms." Delta Sierra said with a smirk.

"Whenever you show up it is never on good terms." Hail retorted. He was alarmed when he noticed Delta Sierra's countenance suddenly turn serious, grave almost.

"Elder…when we met just before the sands of Liberty Island, that was not on good terms. What I am about to reveal to you is much more serious than what you saw on Liberty Island. The very fate of New York City and all its occupants are in grave danger." Delta Sierra warned.

* * *

Isaac had finally rubbed the fatigue out of his eyes though he doubted he got all the sand out of his hair. That was a common problem when you slept out in the wastes and it had been awhile since he was on a mission. Stiff muscles, aches and sore joints had popped out on his body but some water and a few minutes of walking were starting to make things better. David was quietly walking behind them while Joseph was still taking powerful strides ahead of the group. Isaac was starting to envy the Nation Regulator. Joseph seemed to breathe the wastes, as if the wilderness was as natural to him as home was. Of course, Isaac gathered that since the people of the Nation tried to live in harmony with the wastes, this was only to be expected. Joseph was probably the ultimate survival expert within the Regulator ranks.

"Well, that's it guys. I can't go any further today." David announced out of the blue. Both Isaac and Joseph came to a surprised and stumbling halt. Both of them looked back to see David making himself comfortable on a rock before pulling out a worn book from his pack and started reading.

"What do you mean you cannot go any further today?" Joseph inquired.

"It's the Sabbath. The Rabbis decided we can only walk a little less than a mile on the Sabbath. We've walked that distance between sundown yesterday and this morning according to my little meter here." David explained, pointing to a little digital device strapped to his foot." Joseph continued to stare at David in complete disbelief. Isaac meanwhile suddenly appeared to have an epiphany.

"Ah, I know what you are! You're Jewish!' Isaac cried, apparently happy about his deduction.

"Seriously, it took you that long to figure it out?" David asked in disbelief, casting Isaac a pitying look.

"Well, I just could not be sure. The idea came across when you didn't want that molerat but I decided you were just a picky eater. So you don't eat those because they're not…um…er…how do you say-"

"Kosher." David interrupted Isaac.

"That's it, Kosher."

"We are on an important mission and you are forcing us to stop? It is going to take us long enough to get to DC as it is." Joseph complained.

"Oh, patience is a virtue. Besides, DC isn't going anywhere and we're not working under a time table. Mark never complained about my honoring the Sabbath before." David replied calmly, never once taking his eyes of his book.

"So you're just going to sit there even if a death claw comes by?" Joseph growled.

"No, I can flee if I must but it is good to take a rest out of the week. Don't be such a _kvetch_ and learn to relax." David dismissed and continued to read his book. Isaac glanced over at an apparently frustrated Joseph who finally relented with a sigh.

"Fine. If you're going to stay here then I'm at least going to go do some foraging. What will you be doing, Isaac?" Joseph asked.

"Tell you what, you go one direction and I'll go the other. We'll cover more area that way." Isaac offered.

"Very well. Stay out of trouble." Joseph said before walking towards the north. Isaac shrugged and turned south but not before casting a final glance as David.

"Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself here?" Isaac asked.

"Uh huh." David grunted, still contently reading his book. A couple moments later, David looked up to see that Isaac was still staring at him.

"What?" David asked curiously.

"Man, I just realized I have the most fascinating team ever. This is going to be so much fun working with you guys. All right, I'm off." Isaac said before dashing southward. David stared at his retreating figure before getting back to his book.

"Oy vey…" David muttered.

* * *

Carl liked to think that he was a fairly easy going guy. James was probably the most routine oriented out of the group, followed by Sven who could just be downright incomprehensible in his madness that only made sense to himself. Adam was next on the list when it came time to being flexible. Finally, there was Carl who knew that whatever happened, no matter what fate threw their way, he'd be the happiest to role with the punches.

He was starting to find that Adam was beginning to try his patience.

It started ever since they first set foot out in the wastes. When Carl rolled up at night to go to rest, he could see that Adam just would not lay down his head. Adam seemed anxious, still wanting to move and instead would settle just to keep his eyes open and keep watch. When dawn would first start to light the skies, Carl would wake up to see that Adam was still awake. The giant wondered if his friend ever got any sleep during the night. During the day, Adam pressed forward, alert as always and Carl started to worry how his friend found all of this energy with what little sleep, if any, that Adam was getting.

Finally, a night and day later, right at noon, Adam simply collapsed into the dust, seemingly trying to burrow into the earth and then became still. A very perplexed Carl watched the whole thing with more than just a little concern. Finally, when Adam was still, Carl cautiously tried to get his attention.

"Adam…what pray tell are you doing?" Carl asked.

"Mmrghph…give me an hour…lemme nap." Adam grumbled. Carl raised an eyebrow.

"It's the middle of the day! How can you sleep in this heat?" Carl demanded.

He was answered with a snore.

Rolling his eyes and letting out a sigh of exasperation, Carl sat down on a rock and fired up the radio James had given him. It took Carl a bit to figure out all the dials and buttons but eventually he was rewarded with the sound of static and glowing lights. He quietly grumbled something about asking Julia to leave a note on how to operate it next time. Hitting a button that he assumed would be the transmiter, Carl held up the antennae and receiver assembly closer to his ear.

"Hey, this is Carl. Just taking a little break here. How are you guys?" Carl asked informally over the radio. He paused a moment before listening to the static. After a couple more seconds Carl started to wonder if the whole assembly even worked. He also begrudgingly admitted the possibility that he was not using it the right way.

"Hello, anyone there?" Carl asked again. This time he was rewarded with James' voice cracking through the radio though the message was peppered with static.

"We here you, Carl. We're just on the outskirts of Haven which is the capital city of the Hierarchy." James replied.

"Capital city? How many cities do they have?" Carl asked in surprise.

"Not sure. It could just be this one. Guess we'll find out in time." James answered.

"Gotcha. Hey, I got to let you guys go. Think we might have some company." Carl replied darkly, noticing approaching figures through the billowing distortion of the heat leaving the ground.

"All right, be safe, Carl." James answered.

"Putting away the equipment, Carl stood to his full height and brought his gatling laser to bear. He also gently kicked Adam with his foot.

"Mghmph. Leave me-"

"Get up, we got company." Carl said firmly. Adam was up in a flash, his hands ready to pick up whatever weapon that would be best.

"What do you think they are? Raiders?" Carl asked, still watching the figures approach them.

"Judging by what they look like, they better be the Western Coalition because if they're not, then these raiders mean serious business." Adam replied.

* * *

It is rightfully said that time laughs at all things. Humanity managed to cling for two hundred years after the atomic holocaust and only by some divine grace did they manage to hang on. Small glimpses of hope whispered here and there that in some places they were doing more than just surviving, they were thriving. Still, the world was desolate.

Even a den of thieves and murders is still a haven.

"My joints are killing me." James winced as they walked into the shadows away from the sunset towards what they could tell was the city of Haven.

"Why? They never used to after walking all day. We haven't even had a fight." Sven said through his mask.

"Arthritis." James answered, sharply drawing in a breath from the pain. He could not tell what Sven was doing under his blast helmet.

"Is that why you rub your arm every now and then?" Sven asked curiously.

"No, that's the phantom limb pain."

"…So these are two different things?" Sven inquired after probably frowning.

"Yes." James explained patiently.

"…What do you think caused it?" Sven questioned.

"I'm going to guess all the years of radiation exposure. Maybe I did not get enough water through my years. It could even be genetics. I remember my grandparents having a similar complaint in their later years." James speculated.

"Yeah, I honestly only understand half of what you're saying." Sven admitted.

"It's okay, Sven. You do a good job listening anyway." James replied.

"So what do you want to do first?" Sven asked, the first lamps and fires starting to make the city twinkle in the shadows as they made their way closer.

"Find a lodge, get some rest, get started fresh on a new day." James said.

"Sounds good to me." Sven replied.

* * *

"Stand guard here. Make sure no one tries to go beyond this point to investigate. The last thing I need are a bunch of the locals either panicking or getting trigger happy." Julia ordered Cindy, trying to hide the fact that she was starting to pant for want of air. She did not remember her plasma rifle being this heavy.

The scribe had a few good reasons to be concerned.

The honest truth was that most of the people of Albany had lost their touch with the wasteland. While most settlements faced the harsh reality of danger being close by and the inhabitants the only defenders, Albany had a sparse but devastatingly effective defense force of sharpshooters. Namely, they were James, Isaac and whoever they happened to be instructing. With them missing, that left only the Boys facing a larger than usual super mutant squad.

The second problem was that what few Albany residents that still knew how to use their weapons and so happened to have itchy trigger fingers. Unfortunately, they were still probably inexperienced and were more likely to get themselves killed than anything else.

"So what do we have here, boys?" Julia asked, crouching down next to Anthony. The Regulator squad had taken up shelter in a ruined building, one of the few that remained standing on the outskirts of the settlement.

"We got about ten mutants walking our direction, Mrs. V." Anthony answered quietly, handing Julia the pair of binoculars in his hand.

"You got a plan, then?" Julia asked, still scanning with the spyglasses. Sure enough, there were about ten of the ugly brutes all walking in a group towards Albany. Many of them were armed with rifles though at least two had repeating assault rifles.

"Well, Otto is on the floor above us and he's going to start sniping them as soon as they are within a comfortable range. Your husband always did say to either hit them or not shoot at all. Then, Gerald here will open up with the minigun. If they get any closer, my dart gun and knives should do the trick. If any of them manage to get past all of that, Juan has some napalm for them." Anthony replied with a grin. The plan would have to do. She only regretted that she still questioned the skill of her comrades.

"All right, don't let me keep you. Act as if I were never here." Julia nodded grimly while looking down the sights of her rifle. She would only turn the energy weapon on if the mutants ever came within range. The glow of the power chambers would risk giving away her position. She was hoping Otto would at least hit them by surprise and buy them a better chance to inflict more damage before the mutants would be on their guard.

"They are almost in range. I will be firing shortly. Get ready." Otto announced quietly from the floor above them. All of them held their breaths.

They heard a muffled screech.

Outside, Cindy's head turned sharply after hearing the tell tale supersonic crack of a bullet going through the air. She quickly looked back at the streets of the settlement and was a little dismayed to see some of the residents looked over at her direction. Getting a little nervous, the woman still stood like she had every right to be there. She promised Julia that she would not let anyone get past her and she wasn't about to let her friend down now.

There were several more howling echoes but no explosions. This suggested that Otto was still doing his work. Cindy bit her tongue and continued to pretend like nothing was happening. She tried ignoring the glances some of the residents were shooting at her and the building behind her. She prayed they would just forget about it.

When the roar of the minigun started up, she knew she was really in trouble.

"Excuse me, but what's going on over there?" a man asked, briskly walking up to her while pointing at the building. Cindy noted with some pain that he had a rifle slung on his back.

"Absolutely nothing. They are simply conducing some shooting exercises over there." Cindy bold face lied, trying to stand as confidently erect as possible.

"Are you sure?" the man asked uncertainly.

"Yes." Cindy nodded for extra assurance.

They suddenly heard the alien roar of a wall of fire being unleashed out of the side of the building, followed by green flashes of light, obviously the superheated rounds from a plasma rifle.

"Lady, this isn't like any fire exercise they've held around here before." The man said to Cindy, stern arms folding in front of his chest.

"This is an…experiment. We're trying a new procedure." Cindy said quickly.

"And again I ask…are you sure?" the man probed.

"Absolutely." Cindy nodded. That was when she looked over and noticed Julia walking past them with her plasma rifle still emitting steam. Right behind her were the Boys, Juan noticeably covered in soot.

"You were awesome back there, Mrs. V." Anthony said excitedly.

"Don't mention it. Get back to work. Now." Julia replied tiredly.

* * *

That night, the men ate their food cold as they were not willing to light a fire that might get attention in what they hoped was barren wastes. A single fire would get more than enough attention in endless miles of dark. Joseph found a stump to stand on and peered into the darkness, looking for the telltale twinkles of settlements in the distance but found nothing.

In the end, the men settled down to trade stories. However, Isaac soon found himself becoming quiet as he recognized the nature of what Joseph and David were talking about. What his comrades did not know was that they had stumbled upon talking about Isaac's parents and family friends. They just did not realize it yet.

"I heard they once single handedly fought off a whole army of ghouls and they the used a mini nuke to sink a whole mountain on what remained of the defeated army." David said, talking about the Liberators. Isaac wanted to mention that they had some help from friends and that at the time they were far from certain they had defeated the ghoul army.

"The hunters of my people often talk about how they skillfully and methodically destroyed an entire force of Talon Company in New York City." Joseph said with a nod. Isaac kept himself from saying that it was actually done haphazardly and with a little bit of improvising if not a bit of misguided feelings.

"They even took a trained battle rat with them on their adventures, a ferocious pet, I hear." David added.

Isaac broke out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" David asked curiously. Joseph himself seemed a bit puzzled himself.

"Hahaha…nothing, it's just that Rat is far from a ferocious creature. His first instinct in the face of danger is usually to go find a rock to hide under." Isaac answered, finding himself staring at two still very confused comrades.

"Wait…what?" David inquired.

"Erm…nothing, that's…that's just what I heard. That he was a big pushover." Isaac muttered, praying they would not ask any further questions.

"Hmm. It appears not all the stories are the same." Joseph observed.

"Indeed. Well, I'm calling it a rest. You guys figure out who is keeping watch and wake me up when it's my turn." David announced out of the blue before simply laying back in the dirt and simply falling asleep. Isaac quietly took a sip of water.

It was going to be an interesting journey.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thanks to SundayWinterChild for her continued effort in editing these. Also thanks to Forfie for key insight in certain issues.

In other news, a mouse has taken up residence in my apartment. Alarmingly, he's demonstrating a level of shrewdness similar to a certain rodent character in this story. I have mixed feelings about this. .

* * *

_So it has been throughout the years._

_We feared disease. We feared ruin. We feared war. We feared our enemies._

_We fear the atomic bomb and yet we embraced it. _

_Too late we learned that we should have feared the darkness within ourselves._

_

* * *

_

_ Sven was busy wiring up another explosive in the shop at Albany. A pile of finished if clearly improvised looking bombs was sitting next to him. The Regulators who came through to replenish their supplies from him tried to ignore the fact that they did look haphazard and their maker had a questionable grasp on reality. They tried to focus more on the fact that there were no other bombs in the area that worked quite as effectively. _

_ Sven looked over when he saw the door swing open. He recognized it as Cindy's silhouette through the doorway. It became immediately apparent that something was wrong. She was slouching, her shoulders hung. Sven did not say anything. He never considered himself to be a man of many words and he brought a different meaning to the term "psychobabble." _

_ However, he could not help his own countenance from falling when he noticed the new patch on Cindy's eye. Cindy simply slumped at his desk and sulked, staring into oblivion. Sven bent down to glance at her. _

_ "That's not…is it permanent?" Sven asked cautiously, motioning to the eye patch. _

_ Cindy forlornly nodded. A lost eye usually meant the end of a Regulator's field career after they hit a certain age. Francis' philosophy was that it was better to keep his veteran Regulators who became injured alive and teaching newbies the techniques they learned rather than keeping compromised experts in the field. They were worth more alive and teaching others than they were out in the wastes with a higher probability getting killed. _

_ "…Are you…will you only be able to make explosives now?" Sven asked. _

_ Cindy did not even reply to that. _

_ Sven fidgeted a bit and became restless. He looked around, as if trying to find something from the shop that might help him but he realized all his usual tactics just could not help. Cindy and he differed on their policies of fire. Fire was the glory of Sven's existence. Cindy was terrified of it from a bad experience back in her raider days. They only agreed on explosions. _

_ Cindy continued to sulk while Sven continued to fidget before finally wringing his hands. She felt bad as she knew he was trying to think of some way to help and frankly, there was no way she was getting her eye back. He could not fix that. Julia had even told her that the Commonwealth had not developed such prosthetics yet. _

_ She looked up in shock when she felt something most press on her lips. _

_ "…Did…you just kiss me?" Cindy asked quietly. _

_ "I…uh…I…erm…look, I thought it…might help. Fire does not help you, heaven's knows why…figured the explosions part wouldn't help as I assume that's how you lost your eye. Uh…I ran out of options." Sven blathered mindlessly. _

_ He was a bit surprised when he found Cindy weeping on his shoulder and nearly squeezing the life out of him. _

_ "I'm…really glad…you understand…Sven."_

_

* * *

_

Perhaps some Brotherhood of Steel members would grudgingly admit that it was still the Enclave that held most of the power in the wastes. Sure, they may have been divided and spread out but they still possessed the best technology and were still manufacturing high level equipment despite the global situation. Lowell Vanderbraun was one of the individuals who would readily agree that the Enclave still, if barely, held the highest bargaining chips and the irony was not lost on him considering the present state of the scene in front of him. Agent Delta Sierra was a lone man surrounded on all side by Brotherhood Knights and yet everyone hung on the words he spoke.

Elder Hail was the most concerned out of them all. He was a Paladin commanding the Iron Storm squad during the battle of Liberty Island. Never before had he seen so many men killed so quickly. The sight of the wounded and the blood pooling around the shores of the island still haunted his dreams. There were few veterans left of that battle still in the Brotherhood ranks, but only that unlucky few truly understood Delta Sierra's speech.

How could something be worse than Liberty Island?

The Enclave agent had requested to be shown a large map so that he could better explain what was going on. Elder Hail did not ask for anyone in particular to follow them but a collection of the senior scribes, Paladin Rufus, Knight Captain Fernando and even Lowell and Evelyn joined the Elder on his tails. Since the Brotherhood leader did not object they took it as a silent nod of approval. Delta Sierra did not even seem to care.

What was most concerning to Elder Hail was that the Enclave agent, as much as he seemed like he was trying to hide it, exuded franticness, an almost sort of contained panic. That was completely the opposite of the cocksure and composed Enclave operative he knew twenty years ago.

"You are fully aware that there is an increase in super mutant activity here in the city, right?" the agent asked, never once looking back at them but still striding hurriedly towards the large map on the wall.

"Yes. We were wondering about that ourselves." Elder Hail replied.

"That is due largely to a super mutant invasion that came out of former Connecticut." The agent answered, pointing to the eastern border of the former New York state. They let the agent continue his explanation.

"This invasion is of a different strain of super mutants who must have originated from some still undiscovered vault or facility in former Connecticut. Simply put, they are smarter than your average mutant." Delta Sierra admitted with a defeated shrug.

"I fail to see what makes this so alarming. Okay, so they're smarter. Does it really make that much of a difference?" Paladin Rufus asked skeptically.

The glare he earned from Delta Sierra would have peeled the marrow from bones.

"We're not talking the simple difference in IQ here. They use far more advanced tactics than your regular mutant out there. They communicate with each other more effectively and execute complex strategies on the battlefield. They even figured out how to use something as advanced as a fat man. Yes, you thought mutants wielding missile launchers were bad, wait till you see one using a fat man." Delta Sierra said, almost angrily.

"How do you know this? Have you seen these things in the field?" Elder Hail asked quietly.

"We lost one of our most heavily defended outposts in Connecticut. They blew the gates open with mini-nukes and most of our soldiers were ruthlessly slaughtered. The mutants hit the facility to capture equipment and supplies. Survivors were…infected to become mutants themselves. Your knight can vouch for me on that one." Delta Sierra pointed at Lowell.

"It's true. The agent saved us from a group of mutants who spoke rather well. They called themselves the New Human Effort and they offered to turn us into advanced mutants like them." Lowell explained for Elder Hail. Rufus however, we still clearly having problems.

"Wait. Why are you telling us all of this? This could be some complicated ploy used by the Enclave-"

"If we do not work together, New York City will fall and become the next bastion for Super Mutants. Those who are not killed will become abominations. Everything you have worked for will mean nothing and will be used to do more harm than good!" Delta Sierra shouted angrily.

"So why are you coming to us?" Rufus retorted.

"Paladin, keep quiet and let him finish." Elder Hail barked but was quickly drowned out by Delta Sierra's retort.

"The New England branch of the Enclave is spread out. We cannot marshal all our forces to launch a sufficient counter attack. We've been playing a guerilla war against them every step of the way they made towards the city. Our casualties have been bad enough. Alone, our forces cannot protect this city. We've worked together once before and we can do it again." The agent emphatically argued.

"And why is this city so important to you?" Lowell asked calmly.

The agent narrowed his eyes at him.

"Why do you all still insist that you're the only ones working to restore what is good in the world? Why do you think we let you keep Liberty Island? We don't have the man power to occupy it. It is better to let a bunch of wastelanders and idiot Brotherhood of Knights keep it instead of letting raiders or some other vermin slaughter each other for it." Delta Sierra spat.

"Point taken. I want all of you to keep silent and let me speak to the agent." Elder Hail said, relaying the order to his subordinates.

"I'm ready to talk if you are." Delta Sierra replied, standing akimbo.

"What's the plan? How do we stop this?" Elder Hail asked.

* * *

James and Sven left their rather uneventful stay at the hotel and bar in the city of Haven. Both Regulators took a moment to bask in the soft warmth of the dawn as they gathered their surroundings and the layout of the city. Quietly, both men were impressed. The people of the Hierarchy had Haven turned into a sustainable, if crude, living place. A rather large looking tank appeared to be the main water source and they guessed that it also doubled as the filtration system. Despite the lack of people, all the buildings suggested to the two Regulators that when the sun was further up, they would be in the middle of a busy city. Despite even the ravages of the post apocalypse, it was a safe bet to say that Haven had quite a bit of people.

They spotted what appeared to be a squad of soldiers marching in formation down the street. Most of them appeared to have all their combat armor in place, or at least as much as they could salvage and most of them carried assault rifles. James supposed that those who had their equipment out of place were tolerated as they needed every able bodied person.

"Excuse me, soldiers. May I ask a question?" James called, holding a finger out to tell them it would only take a second.

The squad of some ten men stopped and looked at him silently though their halt suggested they would indeed listen.

"I seek an audience with your leader. Where may I find him?" James asked. A few of the infantrymen chuckled in disbelief.

"And why might you want to see the Director? What makes you so important?" one of the soldiers asked, the designated spokesman.

"I'm one of _the_ Liberators." James said firmly, learning the power of that title.

The soldiers immediately hushed up and looked at each other before fixing their gazes at him as if trying to burn his image into their minds. Was this the living, breathing form of that faraway legend they heard?

"Uh…the Director is at the Estate over there." The spokesman muttered.

"Thank you." James answered before he and Sven followed the proper direction. They did their best to ignore the blatant stares.

* * *

Carl and Adam marched somberly forward. They were flanked on all sides by heavily armed combatants, the very ones Carl saw before he cut off radio contact with James. Their armor was not lacking in creativity but there was no elegance to it at all. Salvaged from whatever hard material they could get their hands one in the wastes, they were the trademark handiwork of raiders.

The only reason that Carl and Adam were walking with them and not counted as prisoners was the fact that they were Liberators and their escorts were members of the Western Coalition.

The squad leader, a burly, muscular man with a scruffy face eyed them.

"You don't need to walk so stiffly. Sure, we're raiders but the boss says we can't be barbarians. That's why we're taking you with us. You say you want to talk to the boss, well then, you will talk to the boss." The leader grunted.

Adam and Carl did not respond.

"You think they're just going to shoot us in the back when we least suspect it?" Carl quietly whispered to Adam, bending down to speak into his ear.

"Just play it cool, Carl. We got this." Adam muttered back through the side of his mouth.

"We got this? I'm not sure what you're talking about, Adam. They got us surrounded and they have the advantage here. We don't have the jump on them anymore." Carl retorted.

"I said we _got_ this, Carl." Adam reiterated through clenched teeth.

"Did you hit your head somewhere back there?" Carl asked in incredulous sarcasm.

"Just shut up Carl and go along with this." Adam grumbled.

"Fine." Carl grumped.

In truth, neither Regulator were sure where exactly they were, only that they were quite some distance west of the final stretch of the Mohawk. Somehow, in the middle of this barren wasteland, a band of raiders had managed to scratch a living into the desolate sand. It was actually quite jarring for Carl and Adam because it seemed one moment there was nothing but lifeless terrain and then out of nowhere dwellings started appearing as they were led along. First they saw dugouts and outposts of sorts, an outer ring of defense of the raider clans. Then they found dwellings of sheet metal and other light material, including animals skins, usually Brahmin in origin but there were a few that Adam was almost certain came from Deathclaws.

And here they were, bustling in the middle of a massive raider abode. It seemed oxymoronic but here was a civilization of raiders.

Carl was about to asks someone to pinch him as he must have been hallucinating but he decided it would not have been a good idea to upset their hosts. Sure, nearly ninety percent of the population in any settlement carried some sort of weapon these days but these denizens seemed a bit heavily armed, even for the standards of their time. Still, the people talked, did business and mingled just like other regular people in the wastes. Sure, their temperaments and manners were a bit more crude or barbaric but not overly so, not enough to shut down communication.

Either that or they just grew up being used to it.

"You have appealed to speak with the Warlord, so to our Warlord you shall speak." The group leader announced, leading Carl and Adam to a simple but spacious looking dwelling. It appeared to be a large tent made of heavy animal skins. The entrance itself was kept open though it was still a bit dim inside.

The group leader led the two Regulators to a single man inside. At first, the tent dweller had his back to them. The group leader opened his mouth so speak.

"Hail, Warlord Yeohart."

The man called Warlord Yeohart was probably just a little younger than the Liberators, perhaps in his mid-thirties. He had a muscular build with numerous faded scars crisscrossing his body. The armor he wore did not cover his whole body, something a bit comfortable with the sleeves ending at his biceps to keep him cool but did enough to pad his vitals. His facial hair could be better described as stubble than an actual beard. His countenance was firm. It did not exude any hostility or barbarism that might be expected of a raider leader.

It did not have any compassion on it either.

"These men…Regulators…have appealed to speak to me?" Yeohart asked his under leader.

"Yes, Warlord." The soldier replied.

"Regulators no less. This is indeed unique. I'm glad you brought them to me. Leave us, lieutenant. I will call you when needed."

Adam and Carl both fidgeted uncomfortably. They were alone now in Yeohart's pavilion, the most powerful man of what they had always heard was a raider's coalition. Simply put, Yeohart was not exactly what they had expected.

"We do not see many Regulators. The few we have seen were more inclined to shoot at my men. Now, two have appealed to speak to me. This is interesting. Very interesting." Yeohart said simply, crossing his arms in front of himself as he sized up Adam and Carl.

The Liberators did not reply.

"But you two…you both have the letter "L" on your sleeves…Are you…could you two be two of the Liberators? Is that what the L stands for?" Yeohart asked.

"Yep. We're two of them." Adam admitted. Carl hesitantly nodded.

"Well…this just keeps getting more intriguing. Now, I have been rude. You have appealed to speak to me with what I assume is a request and I have done all the talking. Now, it is your turn to talk." Yeohart welcomed, clearly excited that he was in the presence of living legends.

* * *

They simply needed to say that they were Liberators and that they wished to speak with the Director. That done, they could practically hear people bustling all through the Estate. James noticed different mannerism and procedures from the people in this place. He wondered if they were rather similar to the culture of the people before the bombs fell. Still, there was no way he could prove that. No one remembered what that looked like.

It did not matter. Soon, James and Sven were being escorted down a hall by two armed guards wearing combat armor and brandishing assault rifles. Eventually, they were led to a proud looking man who wore what must have been the uniform of a military officer during the pre-war days. It reminded the Regulators of the uniforms of the Enclave officers except this one was darker, more dark blue than tan.

"Are you the Director?" James asked, being brought to the man.

"No. My name is General Jason Omedea, commanding general of the Hierarchy forces." General Omedea announced. He had a regal stance and a very confident looking countenance. James silently grumbled to himself that the man reeked of arrogance. That and he had to be as young as his own children. There was no way someone as old as his son could have been made commanding general, when his own son, Lowell, was simply a Paladin by simply climbing ranks. This man was either really good or licked a few too many boots.

"And I'm told you two are Liberators." General Omedea said, quietly analyzing the older men before him. They looked like two old soldiers who had seen too many battles. They both seemed weathered and worn. The marksman obviously had lost his left arm, a well built prosthetic taking it place. Meanwhile, the explosives expert had not taken off his blast helmet and was breathing heavily into its attached filtration mask. Omedea mistakenly decided that either the man was quirky or he had some breathing issues. He could not have known that it was actually both.

"That's an Excelsior rifle you have there with a silencer attachment. That seems to be standard operating procedure for Regulators who carry that rifle." Omedea remarked, looking at James.

"Regulators who carry this rifle usually do not have a lot of teammates to cover them and some might flat out work alone. A silencer makes sure they stay hidden by not drawing attention to where they might be. It costs more but that investment can save their lives." James explained.

"Hierarchy forces would love to get their hands on those. What few rifles we do find or obtain are only given to the best marksmen with the most experience." Omedea replied.

James did not reply and simply nodded. He tried to hide the fact that he did not like the way Omedea said "obtained."

"Follow me. I will take you to the Director." Omedea finally announced.

The Hierarchy general led the two men further down the hall before leading them to a large, closed door. Despite the two centuries of age and the weight of time, the Liberators could still see the shadowed, polished beauty that the wood of the door once had. With no further ado, General Omedea opened the door and saluted a figure sitting at a large desk inside the room.

"Director, our visitors have arrived." The general announced while signaling the two men to walk in which they did.

Sven and James were surprised by what greeted them.

"Welcome. I am Director Catherine Omedea of the Hierarchy."

* * *

"So yes, I got a beautiful wife back home. Her name is Rachel. We also had our first child a couple months ago. Haha, I'm starting to miss, little Shiloh. Ah heck, I miss both of them." David said as they continued to trudge through the endless miles of dust, sand and more dust. Joseph, as usual, was striding in the lead in his constant, seemingly everlasting determined demeanor. David was in the center where he just suddenly started talking about half an hour ago about his life. A rather relieved Isaac was in the back, glad that someone was finally talking.

"Shiloh? Is Shiloh your child? I never heard of the name 'Shiloh.'"

"It means, 'Peace.' Similar to our greeting, 'Shalom.'" David explained.

"Ah." Isaac replied.

"Yes. She's an energetic little girl. I'm going to be very disappointed if this mission drags out long enough that I miss her taking her first steps." David said, almost worriedly.

"Ah, don't worrgoing to be very disappointed if this mission drags out long enough that I miss her taking her first steps." David said, almost worriedly.

"Ah, don't worry about that. I don't want this journey to last any longer than it has to be." Isaac reassured.

"Do you two ever stop talking?" Joseph muttered up front.

"What?" Isaac asked, staring in shock up front at Joseph's back. That was probably the first time they ever heard Joseph talk during the day without being prompted.

"You two have been talking so long. It's making a lot of noise." Joseph answered.

Isaac and David exchanged puzzled glances.

"Just don't talk so loudly. Or don't talk at all. That would be better." Joseph sighed.

"Why are you opposed to talking?" Isaac asked in bewilderment.

"I am not opposed to talking. Just not on the hunt." Joseph explained.

"On the hunt? We're hunting?" Isaac inquired.

"Of course. What did you think we were doing?" Joseph winged back.

"Um…walking!" Isaac retorted in exasperation.

"Hey guys, maybe we should all calm down." David tried to intervene, gesturing for everyone to cool their tempers.

"Of course we are walking but we need to keep silent on the hunt when we are walking. You never know what might be listening to us." Joseph hissed.

"We are fine. There is nothing that anyone could be hiding behind for miles around here. Have you seen this place? There aren't even tree hulls anymore." Isaac growled.

"You are hopeless." Joseph grumbled, stomping back in the lead.

* * *

Here was the moment they had been waiting for, trudged this many miles out in the middle of nowhere to deliver and all of a sudden, Adam found himself at a loss for what to say. Here stood before him Warlord Yeohart, someone Adam expected to be an obtuse, coarse and bloodthirsty barbarian. Instead, the warlord showed refined mannerisms. Sure, he had a gruff voice but that was probably from years of yelling.

"Warlord Yeohart…we're Regulators representing…well, the Regulators…" Adam fumbled. He mentally kicked himself. That was the worst opening he ever gave.

Yeohart did not even seem to notice. He just kept listening intently, with a smile even.

"Word has come to us of your conflict with the Hierarchy. It is endangering the caravan lines between the Commonwealth to the north and Albany as well as New York City to the south. We were hoping some sort of deal could be made that you and the Hierarchy could resolve your differences…or at least leave our caravans alone." Adam finally said.

Yeohart frowned by nodded diplomatically. He signaled for Carl and Adam to follow him as he left the tent. It appeared by his actions that he intended to give them a tour.

"I started far out to the west. It may have been further west than New York. Yes, I was a raider. I was always a raider. But I heard stories." Yeohart started, showing them the nomadic dwellings and the surprisingly bustling market life that his camp had. People were trading in common items that could be found throughout the wasteland. With caps too, not with fired bullets.

"What stories did you hear?" Adam asked.

"I heard stories of five Liberators who were brining life back to the place called New York City." Yeohart answered with a sly grin before continuing.

"I decided that if it only took four or five people, why not I, a gang leader, try my hand at creating something glorious? So I learned to read. Then I learned how to put theory into practice. Civil law, rules of economics, the revolving story of history, diplomacy, battle tactics. I read as much as I could and implemented as much as I could. Sure, all I had to work with were raiders but even raiders can be turned into an empire if you're clever enough. Where I couldn't buy out I shot out. I learned from history that fear and coercion can be great weapons but I also learned that you had to be fair. My people, though harsh, are still protected by rights. That is why anyone can appeal to me that I may hear their case. Even slaves are protected by basic liberties and can one day be free people again." Yeohart explained, motioning to a rather eerie, massive cage that housed a number of sorry looking and frightened slaves. Carl and Adam cast appalled glances but quickly hid them.

"I am impressed by your diplomacy, sir Liberator. Alas, the Hierarchy has not extended the same to us. They attack us on sight, trying to drive us away from the area of the Hudson river and deprive us of the caravans routes. They want the trading areas to themselves and claim that they are protecting the caravans from us 'brutal raiders' when they are in fact the ones that fired the first shot." Yeohart explained.

"Have you tried to communicate with them at all?" Adam asked.

"Yes. All have failed. Guns fired before we can even speak our minds." Yeohart replied with a shake of his head.

"I see." Adam murmured.

"Now that you have appealed to me, I ask that you go back to your Regulators and have them help me make war with the Hierarchy." Yeohart requested.

"Wait, what?" Adam sputtered with a gulp.

He could tell that he was already getting more than he bargained for. He was fairly certain that an equally shocked Carl was silently praying.

* * *

"Thank you for showing them in, General. You may take your leave." The Director Omedea stated. The General simply nodded and left gracefully. No one could tell what was going on under Sven's mask but it was obvious James was trying to pin down the connection between the Director and the General, considering his shifting eyebrows.

"He's my son. Yes, you may think that he has his rank through blood but he's actually very competent as a war leader. I would have had him removed from his office or found someone to replace him if he did not lead our forces to victory." Catherine Omedea explained.

"Ah. I was curious. Anyway, my name is James Vanderbraun and this is my comrade, Sven." James introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you. I must say…I'm stunned. Two actual, live Liberators are sitting in my office. I've only heard of you in the stories. Its…wow…" Catherine blathered.

Truth be told, she was a bit disappointed. Here she had heard stories of larger than life heroes who tore down slave towns, took on whole armies and rebuilt cities only to find them as…actual people. James seemed to be weathered with graying hair forming at the sides of his head, his left hand an obvious prosthetic. Meanwhile, Sven…still had his blast helmet on. For now Catherine quietly noted him as an eccentric but wondered if there might be more to him.

"So, I assume there is a matter of some importance that would you bring you all the way from where you were in southern New York to my office?" Director Catherine started.

"Yes. It is a matter of your conflict with the Western Coalition." James replied.

Sven simply breathed into his filter.

"Very well. I assume you are familiar with our ongoing conflict with them. What are you proposing? Would the Regulators like to help us drive those raiders back?" Catherine asked, frowning.

"Errr, no. We're more concerned with the fact that our caravans from New York City to the Commonwealth are getting caught in the crossfire. We would appreciate that the Hierarchy not bother the caravans in any way. Those caravans are vital to the survival of all the parties involved on the trade line. Your conflict with the Western Coalition and the disregard for neutral traders is causing some problems." James replied, shifting uncomfortably.

Sven breathed into his gas mask.

"I don't understand. You are Regulators yet your concern has more to do with the caravans rather than the Western Coalition, a nation of raiders?" Catherine asked curiously.

"We have a separate group of people handling the Western Coalition right now. Sven and myself were sent to speak with you." James explained.

"Very well. What if I were to tell you that most of the caravan attacks are the responsibility of the raiders? Our forces are not barbarians like our enemies." Catherine replied, showing that she was not happy with the implied accusation.

"All right, but perhaps a more permanent and better solution would be to negotiate a sort of peace with the Western Coalition?" James suggested.

"Ah, you should know better, yourself. You cannot negotiate peace with raiders. The only diplomacy they understand is hostile diplomacy, usually in the form of bullets. We have been fighting this war with the Western Coalition on and off for almost a decade. They represent a threat to our livelihood. In fact, you should probably be thanking us. Your Regulator State would have suffered from their attacks by now if it wasn't for us." Catherine replied.

Both James and Sven raised an eyebrow at her.

"Regulator State?" the two asked in unison.

Catherine looked equally confused.

"Yes. Your Regulator State of New York City and Albany. Those are well under Regulator control and since you two were sent here, it is clear that you have consolidated enough to form a sophisticated government." After all, you said that this was in the interest of your caravan trade." Catherine replied.

"Um. Sure. Look, we're really just asking this because we need the caravans to continue if we're to survive as cities. We are also concerned for the sake of your two peoples, the W.C and the Hierarchy. If there was a way we could help negotiate some sort of peace-"

"That will never happen, Mr. Vanderbraun. There can never be peace with raiders" Catherine interrupted with a stern nod of her head.

James frowned and silently noted that this was going to be harder than he thought.

Sven breathed into his gas mask and wondered where burning stuff would help solve this.

* * *

Carl and Adam sat outside in the market place. Adam had managed to wiggle their way out of giving Warlord Yeohart any Regulator aide against the Hierarchy. The raider Warlord had accepted their word as good that they would neither aide the Hierarchy nor fire upon the Western Coalition.

The only warning the Warlord gave them that if this promise was broken, then his trust would never again be the same for the Regulators.

This left Carl and Adam in a predicament. It was clear to both of them that the Warlord did not see the option of negotiating with the Hierarchy. However, they now also wanted them to fight against the Hierarchy, something that both Carl and Adam knew simply was not an option. The Regulators were simply small, roving bands of vigilantes. The last time the Regulators gathered as a force was at Liberty Island and from what the Liberators had seen vigilantes are not necessarily the best soldiers. Casualties were excessive. If it were not for the fact that so many wastelanders had been impressed by the sacrifice of the Regulators at the battle and signed up to replenish the ranks, the New York District of Regulators could have very well died with the battle.

They had been given a mission that they probably could not resolve.

"What are we going to do?" Carl asked, looking over and down at Adam who seemed just as shell shocked as he was.

Both were lounging on a bench set in the middle of the marketplace. Warlord Yeohart was indeed delighted to have them but the warlord was a busy man and had to dismiss them when their meetings was over.

"Lets wait here a bit. There's maybe some more information we can get." Adam suggested.

"Right." Carl agreed, nodding emotionlessly.

"Excuse me?" a nervous whisper hit their ears.

Both men quickly looked over their shoulders, surprised that someone seemingly had been listening to them. They did not realize that there was anyone there. They were even more surprised to find that behind the bench was in fact a large cage. The person whispering to them was a skinny, poorly clothed young man who was covered in dirt.

"Are…are you…you two are Liberators? _The_ Liberators?" the man asked nervously, constantly glancing around as if afraid he might get found out by something.

"Um…yes." Adam replied carefully, wondering what all the tension was about.

"You…you became the Liberators because you liberated a slave city…right?" the man asked.

"Uh huh." Adam nodded. That was when it hit him and Carl what they were looking at.

The cage was a large slave pen.

"When…when will you liberate us?" The slave asked pitifully.

Carl and Adam immediately felt a very heavy, condemning weight fill their limbs.

"We…we can't…" Adam finally replied in a painful whisper after an agonizing moment of silence.

"But…but…why not?" the slave asked, heartbroken. By now, some of his fellows were starting to gather.

"We…it's just the two of us. We're not as young as we used to be. We're old, injured, with families at home. We're also within the borders of a whole nation…not just some slaver town…" Carl explained.

The slave nodded painfully, as if understanding though clearly devastated.

"I'm…I'm sorry I bothered you. I just thought…you could liberate us too." The slave mumbled.

For a long time, Adam and Carl just stood there, their dusters quietly billowing in the breeze.

* * *

Back at the Estate of the Hierarchy capital of Haven, General Omedea met with a group of individuals. By the appearance of their uniforms, they were all from various ranks of the Hierarchy military. The general was the first to start.

"Have you made sure that the Liberators have left Haven?" the general asked.

"Yes, General. We have confirmation that they have left and are already on the road back to the Hudson River." One of the aides replied.

"All right. Keep scouts posted and have them notify us if at any point those Liberators return. With that in mind, launch one of those reconnaissance missions into Albany. Perhaps these Regulator States are not as powerful as we thought them to be."

"Wait, General…you mean one of _those_ reconnaissance mission?" another aide asked skeptically.

"Yes. The covert kind with a lot of noise. Just like every other _reconnaissance_ mission we held against every other enemy we had before we took them over." General Omedea retorted.

"But…they're the Regulator States. If they managed to get the crater called Albany up and running, from a stronghold of Super Mutants no less, then don't you think they'll still have more than enough guns ready to-"

"You saw those so called _Liberators_. They're old men, worn and weakened from too many years of doing their hard work. Don't you see? They're invincible only because of the psychological aura built up around them. We will be the first people to recognize that. They are not invincible. We used to think the risk was great but now that we know that the Regulator patrons are not in fact demigods, we shall take down this paper death claw."


	11. Chapter 11

"_Wisdom will not be complete except by following the truth."_

Imam Husayn ibn Ali

"_One must never be old, neither an old saint or an old follower. Being elderly is a vice; a man must always renew, begins and begins anew."_

Rabbi Nachman

"_Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear."_

The Prophet Isaiah

* * *

_Isaac, Lowell and Evelyn Vanderbraun nervously stood at attention. They had never felt more helpless and out of sorts in their lives. It did not help that all three felt like those around them seemed to know what was going on, despite the fact that everyone around them were also green recruits. _

_Drill Sergeant Fernando was still shouting a storm of orders. _

_ "You will refer to me as 'Knight,' 'Drill Sergeant,' or 'Sir.' I've trained more of you pukes than you can possibly imagine and rest assured, you are the sorriest looking bunch of maggots I've ever laid my eyes on!" _

_Isaac forced himself not to nervously glance at Lowell or Evelyn. He could not show fear. He could not show weakness and for goodness sakes, he was going to get this Brotherhood training done. He promised his mother that he would, just like the twins did. _

_ "Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, expect me to go easy on any of you little pukes." Fernando shouted, staring directly into Isaacs' eyes. _

_ "ANY OF YOU!" _

_ Lowell meanwhile still defiantly stared on._

_

* * *

_

The Brotherhood of Steel charter of New York City had suddenly been mobilized. The troops were sent out and patrols throughout the city were increased. Every member that was not still a trainee without any combat experience was deployed to the field. Delta Sierra had explained in the most painful detail what had happened to the Enclave troops caught within the path of the New Human Effort. The Brotherhood was not too keen on letting that happen to the city.

They had to stop the vanguard here before the rest of the lines came up.

"For an Enclave agent, he seemed like a decent guy." Evelyn said, turning her radio off the squad traffic signal so that only her brother could hear her as they were walking through the rubble together. The Carbide Tempest had been sent to the north western part of the city where they were to continue hunting down super mutants. They were hoping to get more of the brutes from the New Human Effort.

"Evelyn, he's Enclave. He cannot be trusted." Lowell grumbled, also making sure his own radio was off the squad channel.

"But he did help us get out of that building when he could have just let us die." Evelyn replied.

"Only to tell us that the Enclave needs us to stop a mutant army and the reason we're going along is because it's also in our best interest. It does not change the fact that they're using us." Lowell retorted.

"Well, he still might be a nice person." Evelyn said shyly.

"He's a liar. You heard what he said about our parents working with him." Lowell growled.

"Maybe it's true. You never know. Mom and Dad really had quite the ridiculous stories. It wouldn't surprise me that at one point they had to work with the Enclave. And they of all people would really not want to admit that either. Mom definitely at least." Evelyn explained.

Lowell just grunted malcontently

"We should at least give them a chance." Evelyn asserted, albiet weakly.

"…You just suddenly got a crush on him, don't you?" Lowell inquired.

"Wha- no! I do not." Evelyn defended, shooting him a double take.

"There you go again, always getting a crush on the worst possible choices in men. Seriously, he's got to be as old as Dad." Lowell snapped.

"Omigosh, Lowell. You are so infuriating at times!" Evelyn growled through clenched teeth as she balled her hands into fists.

"Attention all Enclave and Brotherhood Personnel, this is ENCOM." A voice suddenly crackled through their radio. Immediately, the twins noticed their comrades appearing from the rubble to join them. They were all equally surprised and a bit disturbed that the Enclave was suddenly speaking through their radios.

"Hold, this is the Brotherhood base. ENCOM, care to explain how it is that you have our communication frequencies?" the Brotherhood command demanded over the traffic.

"You really should have kept better track of our agent in your base. No worries, he only took your communications frequencies, nothing more." ENCOM replied.

"ENCOM, this is Elder Hail. You really think it is a good idea to start our partnership with deceit?" Elder Hail grumbled irritably.

"Elder Hail, are we to believe you would have just willingly handed those frequencies over?"

"…Good point…" Elder Hail admitted begrudgingly.

"Thank you, now, the reason this was done was to hook up your forces to our vertibirds we have in the area. They have all been patched into your frequencies. Uriel, Michael, Helios, Apollo and Valkyrie are in the area to provide fire support. Raphael is a vertibird loaded with medical supplies and life support. He can shuttle wounded back to your base ...and even save your lives." The ENCOM officer added sarcastically

"Finally, there is Gabriel who is monitoring the situation, analyzing data and providing the electronic support for this radio traffic so he doesn't really count but he's there. If you ever need one of them, just speak into this all network frequency." ENCOM explained.

"But how will we know how to contact each individual one?" the operating for the Brotherhood command asked.

"This is Gabriel speaking. All of us are also patched into this frequency. I will dispatch the closest vertibirds to the area in question. Just leave it to us. Gabriel out."

There was a moment as silence descended on all of them. Lowell switched out of the universal frequency to address his whole squad.

"I still don't like this whole situation." Lowell muttered before stomping on, leading them through the rubble.

* * *

On the _Hammer_, Poseidon left the bridge and walked down a hallway leading to the mess hall. It was only a short walk and the ghoul knew that he could safely trust the helmsman to be by himself for a couple minutes. Poseidon himself was more concerned about something else.

The previous day, they had picked up all the Liberators who had rendezvoused at the designated point. Initially, the second in command was relieved that all of them had made it back safe and at least it seemed like the mission was over. It wasn't until a couple minutes after they had all been on board that Poseidon started to realize something was amiss.

Returning to the mess hall, Poseidon looked over to once again see the four men looking sullen. Considering that Sven was still wearing his breathing mask, Poseidon could not tell what his countenance was set like. However, all of them had slumped shoulders and seemed to radiate some sort of depressive air. The second in command idly scratched the ruined muscle on the side of his face with a rotten finger before sighing and returning back to the bridge.

Despite their silence, he had gathered what the Liberators were already discussing. Their mission was far from over.

"We went in there thinking we could just somehow settle a peace agreement and find out they have no desire to negotiate with each other." James muttered, staring into the abyss.

"That and they want to recruit us into helping them fight for their causes." Adam added.

"Didn't they also say they recognize us as a different nation or something? That's just silly. We're not a government or anything. We're just regular people." Carl said with a shrug.

"Can't burn it." Sven muttered to which no one acknowledged.

"So what do we do?" Carl asked.

"I'm thinking we go back to Francis and tell him there's no solving this unless we start sending up caravans armed with mercenaries or Regulators." Adam replied.

"Or we could just tell him the situation and maybe he will have an idea on how to proceed. Surely we cannot give up just yet." James suggested.

"I...I guess..." Adam muttered, suddenly realizing what he promised Alexandra before leaving and becoming very torn about it.

Maybe there was room for just _one_ more mission.

They suddenly heard a massive explosion echo across the wasteland.

Everyone on the _Hammer,_ including the Liberators, left their spot to step outside the ship and look towards the port side on the eastern shore of the ship. Off in the distance, behind some hills, they could see a distinct plume of smoke rising from the ground.

"What do you think that was?" Carl asked.

"A very big packet of happy. It is highly unlikely that it was nuclear." Sven replied, quickly analyzing the cloud.

"Think we should go and investigate?" James asked. He was answered by a moment of silence.

"Poseidon, cut the engines and bring us to the eastern shore. Drop anchor and ready an away team. We're going to do some exploring." Carl hollered.

* * *

Agent Daniel Siaga, the man behind the name "Delta Sierra" sat in his chair as Athena piloted the vertibird. The Enclave black ops agent quickly made sure his silence sniper rifle and Infiltrator rifle were set and in order; polished, cleaned and working like clockwork. Setting them to his liking, he strapped the weapons to his stealth suit as well as his ever trusty combat knife, sharpened to breathlessly slice through even super mutant hide with ease. Replacing his helmet over his head, he listened as he heard a transmission from Enclave Command, or rather, the New England branch of Enclave Command, patch through.

"Delta Sierra, this is ENCOM. Do you read?"

"Delta Sierra here, go ahead ENCOM." Daniel replied.

"As you know, agent, all evidence suggests that the New Human Effort came out of former Connecticut, off the west of New York. We're sending you to the site of our former base there, still in ruins from the attack." The operator started.

"What do you want me to do? Recover any important pieces of equipment?" Daniel asked quietly. He was usually sent for those missions. Otherwise, he felt indifferent about them. He had no joy going into the line of fire but discipline had taught him not to shy away from them either.

"No, agent. We're sending you to try and locate the original position from where these super mutants came from. Most super mutants strains originate from an old vault or military base where the vats of the Forced Evolutionary Virus still reside. We suspect the strain that created the New Human Effort is no different. Once you have found the location and gathered whatever data you can, mark the location and we will drop a satellite based Lucifer projectile onto it." ENCOM explained.

Daniel nodded. The Lucifer projectile was a different brand of satellite based weaponry. It was simply a solid metal rod about as long and thick as a tree. Shot from space towards a target, it would strike the earth at such velocity that it caused about as much damage as a nuclear weapon. It was far cheaper to manufacture, did not have the radioactive waste as an after effect and created a decent sized crater in the ground. It was even speculated that it could cause minor earthquakes and other tectonic activity.

"Understood. Am I going to be getting any backup?" Daniel asked.

"We are trying to keep air support to a minimum. Considering how smart these guys are, we don't want to give them reason for suspicion. However, two other stealth agents will be in the area also trying to locate the objective. Their names are Gamma Rio and Tau Mar. Further information will be given to you as needed. Good luck, agent. ENCOM out."

* * *

"You're kidding me." James muttered, staring through the scope of his Excelsior rifle, getting a better look at the scene on the bottom of the hill they were on.

"Over two hundred years they shut those things and those kids are still climbing out of their holes." Carl said.

"And of all the people they had to run into first when busting out of their vault, they just had to be greeted by raiders, huh?" Adam said with a head shake.

"So when do we light them up?" Sven asked.

"Soon, but we got to play this carefully." James replied.

It appeared that a group of vault dwellers finally decided for whatever reason that it was time to climb out of their hole. A large cave behind a sizable group of blue jumpsuit clad vault dwellers was still spewing out billowing wisps of smoke. Unfortunately, despite their large numbers, the vaulties were apparently being held hostage by a small gang of raiders.

"Quickly, move to their sides. If we just go behind the raiders, we might get some vaulties in the cross fire. I also have to move quickly to set up. I don't want one of these bullets to over penetrate, kill a raider and then keep going into a vault dweller." James told his comrades.

"Well, we better hurry. Those raiders look like they're not going to wait with having their way with that one woman down there." Carl murmured darkly.

"Right, move out. You know the drill. James, when you see we're ready, make the first shot since you're rifle is silenced. That should confuse them." Adam ordered.

"Understood." James replied.

At the bottom of the cliff, the Overseer stared in horror as one of the women from his vault was simply snatched from their ranks by these brutish, uncivilized people that they found waiting outside the vault. They were dressed in some sort of patchwork armor that was really nothing more than various junk parts thrown together on their bodies for some sort of protection. The Overseer's closest subordinates were with him but could do nothing to protect their comrade. Even more disheartening was his twenty man security team. Despite their superior numbers and being armed with 10mm pistols, they were being held at gunpoint by a single barbarian.

"Good, good. So when we're done with this one girlie, we'll just mosey our way down and take all the food you had down there." The apparent raider leader cackled over the panicked woman's screams.

"Look, there is no need for that. Let us negotiate." The Overseer pleaded.

"There is no negotiate! Look vaultie, you don't know what its like up here. When we're done getting whatever we want out of you, we'll go and sell each and everyone one of you into slavery. There's got to be a slave center around here, I'm sure of it…" the psychopath muttered to himself.

"There is slavery up here? Wasn't that abolished-"

"Quiet." The Overseer hushed his youngest advisor. Sweat was starting to form on his face as he realized he could not stall the woman's fate much longer.

"You will learn this, all of you valuties, that if you're going to live up here out of the vault, you're going to have kill and take." The gang leader snickered.

And then his head exploded.

A dreadful stillness settled on the whole scene, other than the decapitated body falling to the ground. The raiders seemed at a lost with what to do. The vault dwellers, the ones that weren't traumatized or about to vomit, were starting in stupefied shock. There were very few of those who were in fact simply stupefied. The vast majority groaned or otherwise reacted to the sight of human brain matter being exposed to the daylight.

The two raiders that were pinning the woman down also had their heads blown wide open by some silent, invisible force. There was about a nanosecond of relief, knowing that at least for the moment the woman was okay. Of course, now she was screaming because she was covered in gore.

"Get down!" a voice hollered.

Everyone looked over to see a giant of a man storming towards the scene. He was draped in a longer, green coat but it was clear that under his garb were heavy plates of metal and his head was shielded in a helmet of similar material. In his hands he carried the heaviest gun any of the vault dwellers had seen and immediately saw that it spat lasers at a frightening rate, easily cutting down the raiders.

Next to the giant was a smaller man, also wearing a similar coat though this one seemed to be padded underneath. He also carried a heavy weapon but it was, quite horrifically, belching heavy balls of fiery liquid that was tearing into the raiders with devastating effect. His face was covered in a heavy blast helmet that also had an affixed breathing mask.

The few raiders that were trying to escape were somehow, quiet inexplicably, growing knives in their bodies.

And before the vaulties knew it, their original captors were dead at their feet while a new group of armed men were quickly rushing up to them. The first two were shutting their weapons down while a third man, again wearing a similar long green coat, just suddenly appeared out of thin air. He did not seem to be carrying any weapons and yet something about the jingling coming from his coats suggested that all the knives might have been connected to him.

A final, green duster clad man was seen rushing up to them carrying a very long rifle with an apparatus attached to its barrel. Some correctly guessed that it had something to do with muffling the sound of the gunshot.

"Welcome to the wasteland. Sure you don't want to just climb back into that hole?" one of the fallen angels asked.

It was quite a sight. There were probably a little over a hundred of the blue clad vault residents and they were all staring with bulging eyes at the four duster coated Regulators. James was fairly certain that they were probably feeling fear. The first thing the vaulties were greeted by were some savage raiders whom they just witnessed getting mowed down in rapid fashion. If those barbarians were tough and were killed so quickly, James could only imagine what they thought of himself and his comrades. Turning to the clearly traumatized woman still laying on her back on the ground, James saw that she was shivering in fright but was otherwise unharmed.

"You all right? Did they hurt you?" James asked her, using his canteen to wash the blood of her.

She stared at him with wild eyes before promptly slapping him hard across the face.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked before stumbling back over to her neighbors to hide.

James rubbed his jaw before joining his fellow Liberators who were standing in a line, facing the vault residents.

"So uhhh, what do we do with these people?" Carl asked curiously, jabbing a thumb in their direction.

"I don't know, maybe we should ask them why they're leaving their hole in the first place." James offered.

"Core malfunctioned. We had to leave." An older man who looked like he knew his way around machines called from somewhere in the back.

"Right. Well, sorry about your greeting getting out of your vault but it's a good thing we saw the explosion and came to investigate. Why was there an explosion, anyway?" Adam asked.

"We had to blow the vault door open." The one in charge explained.

"Always a good plan." Sven nodded behind his breathing mask.

"So…you're just going to leave us alone?" the one who still looked like he was in charge asked.

"Leave you alone? Heck, we got to get you back to Albany. You'd all get shot to pieces out here." Adam replied.

"Yeah, no offense, but you all seem to radiate a giant 'shoot me' sign." James added.

"Albany is still standing?" one of the vault dwellers asked.

"Well, we got it back up and running about fifteen years ago." Carl explained.

"Right. Well, my name is Frank Valdez. I'm the Overseer. This is my wife Cynthia, and our daughter Sarah, who is also the vault biologist." Frank motioned. James raised an eyebrow above his glasses.

"She looks young for a vault biologist." James answered.

"Yes, I'm seventeen but I studied a long time for this position." Sarah explained, as if used to that accusation.

"Besides, our last biologist passed away two years back."

"What's a biologist?" Sven asked through his mask.

"And who are you?" Frank asked the Liberators.

"I'm Adam Anders, this is Carl Thompson, James Vanderbraun and Sven. We call him Slightly Psycho Sven. We are Regulators, the law bringers in the wastes." Adam said, introducing them.

* * *

Sarah Valdez could not help but stare at the four men. She remembered reading from Vault Tec manuals that survivors in the wasteland would by no means be like the people she had known in the vault. Their bodies and mind would have been weathered by the harsh elements and trying psychological conditions they had to live in on a regular basis. She could see this clearly in the four men in front of her. The Sven guy was clearly wheezing into his gas mask, Adam seemed a bit…off, something was wrong about the way Carl walked around and James' hand…

"Are you a cyborg?" Sarah blurted, pointing at James' blatant mechanical digits.

"Umm, it's just a prosthetic." James muttered, sounding a bit offended.

"Sorry, I just think it's fascinating. It's amazing that technology would still be functioning out here after 200-"

"Speaking of technology, is yours still working down there in the Vault? Could we look around?" James asked quickly.

"Uh…yes?" Frank said cautiously, not sure what he was getting into.

"Sven, follow me, we'll just be quick." James said before him and the one in the breathing mask disappeared down into the vault cave.

"These men are very strange." Sarah whispered to her mother.

"So what was your plan after leaving the vault? Couldn't you just repair whatever the malfunction was?" Adam asked her father.

"We were not sure. The damage is un-repairable, or at least it is with the tools we had on hand. We were hoping to start a community above ground with the supplies we had from the vault. That quickly disappeared when the very first group we met were those thugs you dispatched. Now I guess we're going to have to go to Albany with you guys. How far is it?" Frank asked.

"I have a ship waiting at the river just two hills off from here. I'm sure we can fit you all aboard and be at Albany by tomorrow." Carl said.

"Oh, great. I'm sure things will work themselves out from there." Frank replied, though clearly still anxious over how everything was playing out.

Adam noticeably glanced around. Sarah was no head doctor but she was almost certain that his actions seemed to radiate an almost clinical paranoia.

They were a bit surprised when James and Sven stumbled back out of the vault.

"How do you get this off?" Sven asked, displaying for all to see that he let his curiosity get the best of him and had a Pipboy 3000 latched to his arm.

"Nevermind that. Carl get a radio and notify Francis that we need some caravans and Regulators at this location. We can't let this technology get in the wrong hands." James said over Sven.

"Weapons?" Adam asked.

"No. Their armory was lackadaisical at best. Everything else though? You could start a small city with this stuff." James replied.

The vault dwellers found it rather ridiculous at the way these four men were scrambling over such common place technology they had grown up with and had used on a daily basis all their lives.

"Right on it." Carl said quickly, rapidly getting his radio ready.

"That and can someone please tell me what this is?" James asked, practically demanding. It was then that they noticed he was carrying a vase of clear water in which sat a single, perfect red rose.

"That's a flower, a rose specifically. I've been slowly experimenting with those flowers and exposing them to irradiated water. That one has so far survived everything." Sarah explained.

"Can I keep it?" James requested, suddenly holding it like it was a very precious thing.

"Um…yeah…sure…" Sarah replied cautiously. As far as requests made today, asking for a rose was a rather benign, though very strange, thing.

Sven whimpered in frustration as he tried to shake the Pipboy off.

* * *

"Think they look benign?" Isaac asked curiously, just above a whisper.

"I don't know, you're the meshugener with the only clear view of them, seeing that you're the only one with a scope and all." David muttered back sarcastically.

"You just could not do all the thinking and deducing in silence, could you? You're not much of a hunter." Joseph grumbled.

"I swear, I'd get more trying to talk to a rat than you two." Isaac sighed.

"Well, did you make a diagnosis yet?" David asked impatiently.

"Funny that you would say that, my dad was a doctor but he could never beat any of the more complicated stuff into me. My sister paid better attention than I did." Isaac replied.

The trio had happened upon what looked to be like a small settlement. Finding a community out in the middle of the wastes was always something that could cause no small amount of anxiety. The benefits of visiting such a place were usually good but the risks were just as high. You never knew if they were a group of raiders, cannibles or if they simply just did not like outsiders. Another problem was that they may in fact be decent people, but they might be equally distressed to see unknown men with armor and weapons casually strolling into town. Everything, should one choose to approach a community, had to be calculated to the smallest degree. Subtle detail such as demeanor, gait, possessions displayed, even the way the weapons were held could mean the difference between being welcomed in or getting shot on sight. It was a dangerous game indeed.

"A main trail runs through the town which suggest that there may be caravans but I'm not sure what routes are nearby." Isaac reported.

"It could be a local circuit. Hey, you never mentioned you had a sister." David added.

"You're married. It could be a local circuit yes. I don't see anyone trembling or acting out of the ordinary so that takes out a couple symptoms of diseases or cannibalism." Isaac replied.

"I might be married but maybe Chief Too Serious over here is available. Now, what you say is true, but the symptoms may not have kicked in yet. Do they at least look friendly?" David asked.

"How many conversations are you idiots going to have?" Joseph interjected.

"Enough about my sister and I don't think Joseph is her type. She's more talkative than I am-"

"How is that possible? Does she even breathe?" Joseph asked in horror.

"Heaven save me, just forget about my sister at the moment! They look friendly enough but that could mean anything. Well, do we risk it?" Isaac asked.

"I'm all for it, how about you two?" David inquired.

Joseph quietly nodded after a moment.

"We'll play it carefully." Isaac quietly affirmed before placing his rifle behind his back and leading the way.

"Hey, is your sister cute by the way?" David asked.

"David, shut up!" Isaac shouted in exasperation

* * *

Poseidon was doing his best to remain patient with all the vault dwellers gawking at him like he was some sort of freak of nature. Truthfully, he could not blame them for being just a little bit disturbed by his presence, having never seen a ghoul before. The problem was that he had grown used to being with a crew and ship captain that got along with him comfortably. Blatant stares and a little bit of obvious fright was probably a step above racism but not that much better.

Being treated like an experiment? That was grinding his patience the most.

"This is utterly fascinating! It would appear a gene or something in our genetics reacts with high levels of radioactivity which a certain portion of the population possesses. However, there are some imperfections in how the body reacts. If we could perfect the genetic response then-"

"Look girl, I know this is uh…'utterly fascinating' but could you please leave me alone for awhile?" Poseidon begged of Sarah Valdez. The teenage biologist had been in his face for over five minutes. It was more than he could put up with.

"Oh, sorry. Um…could I have a skin sample? Please?" Sarah asked, becoming the epitome of a girl with puppy dog eyes. Big, bright blue ones. Unfortunately, Poseidon had never seen a happy puppy in his life.

"No, now please get off the bridge." Poseidon pleaded.

"All right." Sarah sighed before leaving.

"…So yes, if you see a Death Claw and you don't have armor or weapons, you're probably dead. Meanwhile, a super mutant is an ugly, tall, green giant created by…well, we're not sure. Anyway, run like heck from them. They like to eat people. If you see a bunch of guys in flying machines and they so happen to be wearing a rather darkish, full power armor then they're probably Enclave. You don't like them either." Adam explained to the crowd of vaulties.

Clearly, it was too much information to process that quickly, judging from the blank and dazed stares the Regulators were getting.

James sighed while resting his forehead into his palm and tried to start from the beginning, bringing the vault dwellers up to speed. He could tell a major problem in the discussion was that none of them had a visual concept of what he and his fellow Regulators were talking about. The problem with that was that they precisely did _not_ want them to get a visual aid on half the stuff they were mentioning.

Sven meanwhile had temporarily given up on his endeavor on getting the Pipboy off and decided to at least get acquainted with the offending piece of technology. He was a bit surprised to find that a screen showed him his health statistics. Otherwise, he appeared fine but a notification pointed out that his lungs were not extracting oxygen to their optimal levels and that he had absorbed enough radiation to be mildly sick.

Sven started hitting the wrist computer hard on the nearby counter. Clearly the thing was a piece of crap because it was saying he should have been sick when he obviously was not. He failed to notice the machine also diagnose some irregularities in his brain.

* * *

Otto stared through his scope on the northern end of Albany, hidden among the sparse ruins in what remained of a three story building. Gerald was nearby to provide support while Juan and Anthony were on the southern side. Morning was still coming up from over the horizon. For the most part, everything seemed still except for the small figures of molerats foraging through the ruins. Otherwise, it was starting to seem like another normal day. Behind them, they were certain the workers were waking to get back to the factory while the docks were starting to come alive with the mariners preparing for the day. Otto was doggedly trying to stay awake though Gerald's snoring was not helping the situation. His shift would almost be up but it just did not seem to be coming soon enough. Regardless, across the expanse of dust and sand stretching to the north, there was nothing to be seen.

Wait a minute…

"Gerald. Oh crap, Gerald, wake up!" Otto hissed.

"Hmm, what? What's wrong?" Gerald asked urgently.

"We got raiders, lots of raiders. We're going to need help. Geez, they got a small army coming." Otto said in panic.

"So what do we do?" Gerald inquired nervously.

"Run, get Anthony and Juan and then get Ms. V. She'll know what to do." Otto ordered.

Albany was under an attack.


	12. Chapter 12

"_Cursed is the man who dies, but the evil done by him survives."_

Attributed to Abu Bakr

"_Do not be satisfied with the speech of your lips and the thought in your heart…you must arise and do!" _

Rabbi Manachem Mendel of Kotzk

"_Love is not to be purchased and affection has no price."_

Saint Jerome

* * *

_**From memories long gone by…**_

_It had been four years. He did not call them a waste but he had learned as much as he wanted to. He had quietly known this all along but only now was he fully at peace with it; this simply was not the place for him. This was going to be a rather hard thing for him to do but strangely he felt quietly relieved that he had worked up the courage to do so. _

"_Knight Isaac Vanderbraun, it is good to see you. What brings you to my office?" Elder Hail asked. He had only recently ascended to the command of the Brotherhood base. _

"_Elder…I am here to request…" Isaac slowed down and tried to gather himself. _

"_What is it, Knight?" Hail asked patiently. _

"_I am here to request my resignation from the Brotherhood of Steel." Isaac finally let out. _

"_Re-resignation?" Hail practically choked, eyes bulging. _

"_Yes, Elder. I no longer wish to serve the Brotherhood." Isaac explained. _

"…_Knight…no one has left the Brotherhood except under circumstances of being Outcast. This is a most unusual request. People leave the Brotherhood only under the circumstances of being Outcast, missing in action or KIA." Hail replied. _

"_I know it is unusual. But like I said, I'm done." Isaac answered. _

"_And what may I ask is your reason for this…request?" Hail demanded. _

"_I want to help the people of the wastes…and the Brotherhood is not the way I can best do that." Isaac replied, still standing at attention. He grew uncomfortable with the long time that Elder Hail stared at him. _

"_I am told that is very much an attitude of your father. Still, you are Julia Vanderbraun's son, a respected scribe in the field…" Hail murmured. _

_Isaac inwardly sighed in annoyance. So much special treatment just because of his parents._

"_With all due respect, Elder, do not show any partiality to me. If I must be stripped of my rank and Outcast and my name stricken from the Records then-"_

"_Hold your tongue, Knight Vanderbraun. Your name will indeed be removed from the roster but we will simply list you as MIA. You are dismissed, Knight. I expect you gone within twenty four hours."_

_Isaac still had not told Lowell or Evelyn._

_

* * *

_

As it turned out, the towns folk were friendly. It was a bit nerve wrecking for the three Regulators when they first emerged from the surrounding wastes and wandered towards the outskirts of the village. Joseph did not need to carry his weapons, Isaac voted just to keep his Excelsior rifle on his back while David loosely cradled his rifle in both of his hands, the gun pointed down and to his side towards the dirt.

When they were greeted with waves from the inhabitants, they decided it was a good sign and started to relax.

Even more encouraging was when they were directed to the local tavern and hotel. Apparently, the inn keeper explained that Regulators were always a welcomed presence in the town. Although the locals usually did not have any trouble from raiders or bandits, they considered the arrival of Regulators as a sign of good luck. If a famous band of Regulators called the "Liberators" could turn so much bad into good, then who knew what more Regulators could do.

That explained, the inn keeper made a deal with the three vigilantes. They would be given the best rooms for the night free but any other expenses had to come from their own pockets.

The guys decided it was a fair deal.

"Sure you want to order that fire water, Chief? I heard the stereotype was that you folks couldn't hold your liquor." David ribbed Joseph who had ordered a glass of whisky.

"And that is why it is just a stereotype." Joseph muttered though he let a sly grin cross his face.

"What about you, Isaac? Why just a Nuka-Cola?" David inquired, turning to Isaac.

"Heh…heh…I found out in the Brotherhood that I have the alcoholic tolerance of a little girl. Heck, my sister can hold her liquor better than I can. It's quite embarrassing." Isaac muttered.

"Man, I'm starting to like your family more and more, and by family I mean your sister. I betcha she'd be good friends with Rachel. Ah well, happy early mini Purim to me." David announced, taking a gulp of scotch.

"You talk too much, David." Joseph said.

"Oh hush, you-"

David stopped when he saw the smirk on Joseph's face and noticed that he already had two empty shot glasses in front of him, a third full one sitting in front of him.

"Oh you little Shlemiel…" David bantered back."

"Slow down guys, can't have you guys walking completely hung over tomorrow." Isaac said, a cautionary hand raised.

"Yeah yeah, try not to get inebriated on that Nuka-Cola there." David quipped.

Joseph actually chuckled.

* * *

The rotors of the vertibird started to swivel to a vertical position, signaling that Athena was preparing to land the aircraft. Daniel Siaga made sure that his sniper rifle was securely fastened to his back before comfortably setting his Infiltrator rifle in his hands. He could start to see plumes of dust and sand starting to rise under the craft. They were getting close.

"Approaching landing point. There does not appear to be any signs of hostiles. No other ground life visible either. Area appears secured." Athena announced.

Daniel stood from his seat and approached the open door, stepping into the roar of rushing air and the noise of the rotors.

"Touchdown in ten seconds. Prepare for departure." Athena radioed.

Daniel took a deep breath from the filtered air within his helmet. He let his body stretch before relaxing one last time before he would set foot into the mission. He had been serving the Enclave as a black ops agent for over twenty years. This was just another day at the office for him.

"Touch down. You are free to depart. Agent Delta Sierra on the ground. Good luck, soldier." Athena radioed, allowing the agent to step off before slowly returning to the skies in a cloud of dust.

Delta Sierra ran along the earth, determined and professional as always with seemingly no restraints despite his forty years. Within seconds his stealth suit cloaked him to his surroundings and the soldier became a shadow, a ghost by day and a phantom by night.

The New Human Effort would never know what hit them.

* * *

There was no such thing as a panic button in Albany but if it had existed, Gerald certainly hit it. Panting and sweating but doing his best to remain calm, the brawny man hollered for the people to get into the blockhouse. That alone was enough for the Albany residents to understand that they were in an emergency situation. Those too far from the central blockhouse made for the docks where the ships immediately raised anchor and cast off.

The blockhouse was essentially the emergency fortress of Albany. Stocked with ammo and weapons, the building was heavily built to withstand even heavy blasts from missile launchers. Inside, halls took sharp turns only to reveal heavily armed gun emplacements waiting to shred any invaders seeking to root out any of the defenders.

Even a small gang of children could keep out an army with the preparations within the building.

Back on the northern side, Otto watched anxiously as he saw the small force of raiders, there had to be at least fifty of them, closing in on his building. James Vanderbraun had always taught him that with a silenced, long rang weapon, marksmen had the advantage in being hard to detect. He had to hit them from where they would not expect it.

Otto was praying that they wouldn't bother going _inside_ the building and pass right under him.

Several tense, jaw clenching moments later, he was relieved to see that they had continued to dash right pass the building.

Now to hit them from behind.

The first raider to fall to the ground was simply gawked at by his comrades. Perhaps they thought he had stumbled. The problem arose when Otto nailed the second one in which the bullet obviously cleaved through most of the man's torso.

_"Come on you guys, Anthony, Gerald, Juan, anyone! Get at them so they don't suspect me…"_ Otto thought furiously.

Compelled to keep popping them off, and there were still many of them, Otto started to noticed with dread that they were starting to look around, trying to take in their surroundings.

The sound of a heavy minigun going off drew a sigh of relief from Otto.

"Come on, take your best shot you scum bags!" Gerald called, firing the minigun wildly. In all reality, he was trying to slow the raiders down. The longer they stayed away from the town proper, the more time the villagers had to secure the block house and evacuate. Truth be told, many of the workers in the factory had settled on remaining within the manufacturing center and trying to fortify the place. Julia and Cindy were going to need all the help they could get to make sure everyone was safe.

Gerald's teacher, Carl, was not a man of many words. The mantra Carl taught him was "Squeeze and point. Squeeze and point. Stand like you're made of steel…and then run."

Up next to him, Juan appeared before he immediately started chucking grenades. When they did not create casualties, they certainly succeeded in creating havoc and fear on their invaders. Noticing that they were getting close, Juan fired up his flamethrower and started to lay down a wall of fire. If it didn't incinerate any of their opponents altogether it would certainly slow down their progress.

"Gerald!" Juan called.

"What?" the gunner hollered back.

"We got to fall back. They're going to overwhelm us. Fall back!" Juan yelled.

Gerald looked around him and noticed that the invaders had gathered that they in fact had the advantage in numbers. They were starting to approach in force. The two Regulators were suddenly in a very dangerous situation. Raider gangs were one thing but they were not trained to take on a whole army.

"Spray down some fire to cover me!" Gerald shouted over the noise, bullets still raining from his minigun.

Juan immediately complied.

Taking advantage of the heat and noxious smoke, Gerald turned tail and rushed off, Juan right behind him. Still watching from the ruins, Otto continued to discreetly pick off unsuspecting raiders. It was then that he started to notice others falling that he knew he had not nailed. It appeared Anthony was doing his own work under the cover of a stealth boy.

However, the Regulators noticed, with balls of ice forming in their chests, that the raiders were getting close to the heart of the town.

* * *

Asimov peered, as best as his inflexible welding allowed, out the crack of the slightly ajar door of the factory. Inside, most of the factory workers and those who could not make it to the safe house were holed up and crouching behind anything that could be cover, firearms at the ready.

Interestingly enough, one of the refugees in the factory was Rat. He had led a group of children back to the safe house and then turned around to look for more. Realizing that he had shepherded all that he could to safety, but his sharp ears detecting that danger was getting close, he scampered towards the nearest building which so happened to be the factory.

Gunshots from the safe house being traded with the raiders as well as the roar of Gerald's minigun finally hit their ears. Asimov was going to back away when he saw that the raiders were trying to get to the factory door. His programming suddenly kicked in. Protocols that had never been activated before were suddenly called upon.

"_Hostiles detected. Activating DEFCON options. Weapons initializing…_Whoa, where'd those come from?" Once the computerized part of his programming was finished, Asimov became aware of two laser emitters as well as two flamethrower nozzles that had materialized out of his main torso system.

"Well then, appears it would be time to kick some butt. Hope my training from the corp has not left me-"

Asimov cursed when a bullet slammed into his metal hull. Immediately, his involuntary programming kicked in, blocking out his sentient side.

"_Damage to environmental sensors detected. Warning, difficulty in accessing locations of possible targets will be experienced. Caution is advised._ Darn it! How am I going to spot these bastards? Oh shoot, there's one!" Asimov suddenly fired two of his lasers, deftly taking down a raider that got too close but he sensed that more were on the way. The problem was that he also knew he could not detect them all in time. He was going to need help.

"Oy, fleabag, I require your assistance." Asimov called to Rat.

The frightened rodent shivered in fear as he huddled in a dark corner of the factory, trying to hide under a table. Rat glanced at him at him for a moment before he let out a distressed whimper. The pint sized mammal had no intentions of stepping into the line of fire.

"I need you to get on my brain and look at where the bad guys are coming. I can't do this by myself, fleabag. If we get shot down, then there'll be nothing stopping those bad guys from coming in here!" Asimov shouted, bullets peppering all around him as he fired back with his limited sensor information.

At first, Rat continued to glance around nervously, even shaking with each eruption of the bullet falls. However, though perhaps not completely understanding what the robot said, the oversized rat got the sentiment of the message. Quite suddenly, a new light lit up in the rodent's eyes. A look of determination filling his beady black orbs, Rat suddenly leaped from his spot on the floor and clutched onto Asimov's brain case. Firmly in place, Rat let out a barking squeak.

"Oo-rah, rodent! Let em have it!" Asimov hollered, swiveling now so that he faced wherever he saw Rat's chin pointed. Between the two, Asimov started to gather that they were beating the raiders back.

"Squeak!"

"Or as they say back in the corp, Oo-rah!"

* * *

Julia and Cindy huddled on opposite sides of a door frame, Julia clutching her plasma rifle while Cindy clutched her SMG. Both women had done their best to shepherd the townspeople to the safe house. That done, both agreed to defend the last but very important building in the town: the explosive's factory.

They realized they were under the point of a very disastrous Damocles Sword. This building could not fall into the wrong hands because if it did the finished products would be used against the people in the safe house. On the other side of the equation, the enemy did not really need to actually storm the building. It would only take one stray bullet, one wayward spark or misguided piece of shrapnel and both women would be gone in an instant along with the building.

"I think they're starting to focus on us. They got to know there's not a lot of people in here." Cindy shouted above the noise to Julia, blindly firing her SMG out the door.

"We got to hold out. If they cut us down then they'll take out the others." Julia replied, trying to take an aimed shot with her plasma rifle but quickly diving back behind cover before she could fire.

"Julia…we're sitting on a building full of explosives." Cindy said.

"Exactly. All the more reason we got to defend it!" Julia shouted in desperation, now also firing blindly out the door with her energy weapon.

"…So why don't we use some of them?" Cindy offered.

"I was waiting for you to do that!" Julia screamed in a mixture of anger and exasperation.

Cindy immediately tossed out several grenades.

* * *

A steady stream of fire issued from Gerald's minigun. The Regulator was oblivious to the hefty pile of spent casings at his feet, the fact that his hands were practically frozen to the grips or that the heat from the gun was actually starting to singe his hand for that matter. Gerald had fallen into tunnel vision and was laying a steady fury into any raider he spotted until they fell to the ground. Then he went for another.

"Gerald! Gerald, stop!" someone insistently was tapping his shoulder.

Gerald finally stopped firing to look over at Anthony who was uncloaking out of his stealth boy.

"There's no one left here, they're starting to fall back." Anthony explained.

Gerald shook his head, letting the fog of rage leave his mind. That's when he realized that he had indeed mowed most of the raiders down. Juan also showed up, himself covered in soot and reeking of noxious smoke.

"Took out the last of the stragglers that wandered too far our way." Juan explained.

"Good, that means the gunshots are coming from the center of town. Come on, we got to finish this." Anthony urged.

The Boys, with the exception of Otto, trotted towards the sound of the fight. Sweat dripping from the bodies and feigning heavy panting, they found a rather frightening scene. About seven raiders were keeping the explosives factory under siege. Only the stalwart effort of two unseen defenders were keeping the invaders from wholesale requisitioning the munitions to their own use.

And, just as suddenly as the raid had started, it ended just as abruptly.

Gerald immediately opened fire with his minigun, Anthony taking aim with his dart gun when all of a sudden, Asimov came wheeling onto the scene, Rat letting out barking squeaks of indignation as a cloud of flame roared from the Robobrain.

"_Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. _Who is the **dimwit** who programmed me to laugh when operating these…oh, curse you, Sven. _Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha._"

Asimov's initial appearance flash cooked the majority of the raiders, leaving Anthony and Gerald to mop up the rest. The last raider who seemed to be getting away suddenly fell back, dead from a gunshot through the head. It was then that Otto appeared from the ruins, revealing that he had made the final shot.

Julia and Cindy emerged from the building to meet with the Boys as well as Asimov and Rat. Both women appeared to be recovering from a rather grueling adrenaline rush, both breathing heavily.

"Anthony, report. How much damage has been done?" Julia demanded, trying to compose herself. She practically dropped her plasma rifle to the ground, not caring anymore save only to hold onto whatever little strength she had left.

"Honestly, I'm not sure yet, Ms. V. We've had no time to assess the situation." Anthony replied, hands folded behind his back.

"Go check for any wounded. Send them to my house so that I can tend for them…then dispose of these dead bodies." Julia ordered.

Rat leaped off of Asimov's brain case and limped up to Julia. He refused to walk on his right front paw which immediately got the woman's attention. Julia quickly examined it but was a bit hesitant on her diagnosis as Rat obviously could not speak.

"It's just been singed from the heat. You'll be fine, Rat." Julia explained, returning to her full height.

Rat continued to mope.

"Excuse me, Cindy, by my long range sensors have been damaged. The sensors themselves are intact but something has interrupted the information feed. I require repairs before I can be operating at my full capacity and return to the factory." Asimov announced.

"All right, I'll look at it right away, Asimov. Follow me." Cindy said, leading the Robobrain to make the proper repairs.

"Shall we try to salvage the weapons and anything of value from the raiders, Ms. V?" Otto asked as Julia dragged herself back to her house.

"…Yes, do whatever you need to do." Julia answered tiredly, not even looking back at them as Rat hobbled next to her.

"She's a very strong woman. I hope I meet a girl like her someday." Anthony said in admiration as soon as Julia was out of earshot.

"Yeah, yeah, but we got work to do. Enough fascinating already." Juan pressed.

* * *

Back at the house, Julia sat at the table, her head rested in an open palm. Her dark amber hair was unkempt but at the moment she could not have cared less. She was not sure how much longer she could hold onto the precious little energy she had left.

Gerald knocked on her door.

"We've all the residents and no one appears to be wounded, Ms. V." Gerald announced, poking his head in the doorway.

"How many casualties did we sustain?" Julia asked with bated breath.

"Oh, that the good news, Ms. V. Looks like all your safety precautions worked. Everyone was able to get to safety and no one was hurt or killed." Gerald said with a beaming smile.

"Oh. Wonderful. Just finish what I asked you boys. Good night." Julia said quickly, showing Gerald out before promptly locking the door.

Sitting from his makeshift bed in the living room, Rat watched Julia make a beeline to her room and heard her flop down on the bed. In only two minutes he could hear her snoring. Thinking she had the right idea, Rat also closed his eyes and hoped for his paw to make a quick recovery.

* * *

During the initial rebuilding phase of Albany, the Liberators and their Regulator comrades put a lot of energy in trying to erase the memories of a bloody war fought between Talon Company and Rangers on the site of the old city. Trenches were buried but not before their rotting and haunting contents were first purified with fire. Still, their efforts could not completely erase the scars.

Just as the moon was starting to rise high in the evening sky, the Boys were busy with the grim task of disposing of the raider bodies at the mouth of a trench that had not been filled in. They were some distance from the town, at least far enough where they were given a little privacy. The bodies themselves had been stripped of anything of value.

"I'm telling you, something did not seem right about these raiders. I just can't put my finger on it." Juan said, lighting up a cigarette.

"Now that you mentioned it…they did seem organized. A bit too organized. Besides, we've never seen a raider gang this large before. Heck, it's got to be at least five times larger than any gang we put down." Otto agreed.

"Yeah…something does seem a mite fishy about this. Hopefully the Liberators will know better when they get here." Anthony said as he and Gerald tossed the last body into the trench.

"All right Juan, it's all yours. Light em up." Anthony said.

Juan spat his cigarette butt into the trench before pressing the trigger on his flamethrower.

* * *

Isaac made sure David and Joseph got up the stairs without hurting themselves. Truth be told, Joseph seemed to be holding his liquor well. Isaac would not have guessed the Native American had been drinking if had not known better. David on the other hand was a bit uncoordinated but still seemed to have his faculties.

"Well, here are our rooms, all lined up." Isaac said, finding the appropriate doors.

"Well then gentlemen…I…I bid you…bid you g'night. Sleep well, friends." David blathered, stumbling into his room before they heard the locks falling in place. Joseph likewise also disappeared behind his door.

Sighing with relief that the day was over, Isaac locked his own door as soon as it closed behind him. He was just about to remove his weapons, greatly anticipating removing his duster, when a revelation suddenly hit him.

He wasn't alone.


	13. Chapter 13

…_**The memories of days long gone by…**_

"_Children, I don't care how crude or uncivilized most of the people are out there. The greatest commandment is 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.' No matter how vile or repulsive you might find someone out there, they're still a human being and should be shown respect." _

"_But Dad…what if they shoot at us? What if they want to kill us?" _

"_Shoot back. Respectfully. You can still show respect to your enemies. And if you can keep them alive, even better." _

"_Is there anything else you're going to tell us, Dad?" _

"_I was going to tell you kids a thing or two about chems, but I see your mother needs help with some of the patients. We'll save that for another time. Run along now, and listen to Asimov and Rat."_

* * *

Julia opened a bleary eye and judged from the intensity of the light coming through the window that she had really slept in this morning. In all honesty, she did not care. She felt the stress of all her duties piling up on her for the past few days and the attack yesterday had figuratively broken her back. Curling up in bed, she excused herself for another hour long vacation.

"Squeak?" Rat was gently pawing her back, sounding a bit concerned.

Julia knew that she could not ignore the rodent; otherwise he would do one of two things. He would either get very persistent or get frightened and go look for help. She couldn't really blame the little guy. She never really slept in like this before.

"Squeak?" Rat climbed over her but before he could look at her face, Julia snatched the opportunity and caught him in a hug. She knew that as long as she held the ball of fur close to her, there was no way Rat could further bother her.

"Squirk?"

"Shhh…I'm still tired." Julia shushed, eyes still closed.

Rat decided he was stuck.

* * *

Delta Sierra crouched low to the ground, Infiltrator rifle pointed in front of him. The ruins of the Enclave base were long behind him now. Now it was just nothing but rocks, sand and the rather unwelcoming sight of the wastes in front of him. He could not even detect the presence of creatures that usually wandered the barren landscape. He decided that this was probably the natural consequence of an army of super mutants passing through the area. Everything that moved probably was eaten.

He was glad that his suit made him merely a vapor in the landscape.

* * *

"We got a problem! We got a problem!" Hardings screamed as he dashed as fast as he could through the narrow alleyway.

Felson was limping right behind him.

The Carbide Tempest had came upon a network of alleys and abandoned buildings. They were also certain they could hear the sounds of mutants and centaurs within the ruins. It was decided that Hardings, their spec ops member, would infiltrate the area with Felson, the demolitions expert, right behind him. Felson and Hardings would plant a couple well place bombs and then they could sabotage it from a safe distance.

Apparently, Hardings' warning was a magnificent understatement.

Felson, who had earlier hollered to Hardings to keep going ahead, tripped. A gunshot wound at the back of his thigh was slowing him down while blood was dripping from his armor. No sooner had he fallen to the ground was he beset upon by two of the most vicious looking centaurs any of them had ever seen.

Sure, they got around on six human looking arms but similarities ended there. They were more sleek and appeared to be more agile and cunning. Instead of whip like tongues coming from their mouths, a maw full of rows of jagged teeth could be seen while the lower jaws appeared to come apart like some sort of nightmarish creature. From their backs grew scorpion like stingers.

Evelyn, Lowell and Birns immediately fired upon the creatures.

Hearing Felson yelp behind him while also simultaneous trying to keep his head out of the line of fire, Hardings crouched down and dragged Felson out of the grasp of the now dying neo centaurs.

"Initiate, report. Did any others spot you?" Lowell demanded, keeping his laser rifle steady on the empty alleyway in front of them.

"After the centaurs found us…a few of the muties shot at us…don't know where they are now…Only the centaurs pursued us." Hardings panted.

No one saw Lowell's face but his countenance spelled absolute horror.

"Birns, help Hardings carry Felson. Knight Captain, help me cover them, we got to get out of here, double quick." Lowell ordered urgently.

Birns immediately placed the rifle across his back and got on Felson's other side, he and Hardings dragging the downed man while they moved at a brisk pace. Knight Captain Evelyn could tell that her brother was becoming concerned. Something radiated it about his body language radiated with it. She was trying to figure out what had him distressed.

She could hear him switch his radio over to the universal channel.

"Carbide Tempest to Gabriel, Carbide Tempest to Gabriel, do you read?"

"…This is Gabriel, Carbide Tempest. We have your location and you're coming in loud and clear. Go ahead." The vertibird mission command pilot replied after a moment of static.

"Our situation is critical. We may be getting outflanked. We're trying to exit these ruins and we have a man down. Please send reinforcements." Lowell said into the comm link.

"Understood Carbide Tempest. Apollo and Raphael have been dispatched to your location. ETA six minutes." Gabriel announced.

"Now we just need to hold out that long." Lowell muttered, still leading them out of the narrow ruins.

* * *

Isaac was completely thrown off by the fact that he was not alone. At first glance, the room appeared benign. A large, comfortable looking double bed was in the center, a couple chairs and a desk was also present as well as a couch and on a bench just to the side of the door was the intruder.

"W-what are you doing here?" Isaac asked cautiously, his hands debating on whether to remain out in the open or go for his laser pistol.

"I work here and I'm here to make sure that you have everything you want. Would you like something down from the bar…food or drink?" a woman with light blonde hair asked. Glancing at her, Isaac figured she was probably in her mid twenties, not that much older than him. She wore a simple cloth dress that was still in good condition. That was a rare find these days when it came time to pre-war items.

Wait, something was off.

"…What a minute, what's wrong with your eyes?" Isaac blurted.

The woman took her time answering but Isaac felt like she was staring right past him.

"…It's funny that you noticed my eyes first, sir."

With that, she stood to her full height. Isaac immediately understood what she meant. Sure, she was covered but the dress was form fitting and although she could not be described as "voluptuous," she still had an attractive figure.

"_Whoa there, eyes up, Isaac, not there. Dad and certainly Mom would have scolded you if they were here." _

"They…shake a bit and now that I see them in the light…they look clouded." Isaac observed, squinting at the woman's own eyes.

"Sir. I'm blind." The woman said flatly.

"Oh. I…apologize. How did that happen?" Isaac asked curiously.

Isaac could practically read the confusion that was on the woman's face.

"I…when I was really little, just a baby, I got sick. I recovered but I was left blind. I grew up here, trying to live off of the sympathy of others. It worked but after I grew up…I found work here." The woman explained.

"Oh, well, you're doing a good job with the room service and everything but I'm really quite fine up here. My name is Isaac and you are…"

"..I'm…Tanya…" Tanya said softly, her brows arching in further puzzlement.

"Well, nice to meet you, Tanya but I'm quite all right. Should I show you the way down the stairs? Would you need help?" Isaac asked eagerly.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you'd _require_…Isaac?" Tanya asked.

"Uh, no I'm good. I'm full, not thirsty and I'm actually pretty tired. You did a good job cleaning the room though. Hope they don't overwork you with both cleaning and serving." Isaac answered.

"Sir-"

"Please, call me 'Isaac.'" Isaac insisted.

"Isaac, I'm not just room service. I'm a doxy." Tanya muttered irritably.

"Wait…a what?" Isaac asked, never hearing the word before.

Tanya sighed but turned bright red.

"I'm a whore, Isaac."

"…Oh…"

* * *

On the _Hammer_, James had woken early while fog still carpeted the Hudson River and the skies were still gray. Having done his prayer and meditation, he continued to walk down the deck of the ship. He was surprised when he noticed one of his comrades staring out towards the shore, leaning on the railing.

"Good morning, Adam. You're early." James greeted.

"Morning." Adam muttered, finishing off a bottle of whisky and then tossing it into the waters.

"Adam…Carl told me about some of your behaviors while you were out-"

"I'm fine, James." Adam quickly interjected.

"Adam, we're all worried about your health. I can patch up wounds and set broken bones but ill effects caused by stealth boys is something I cannot-"

"James, enough. I know. I'm fine." Adam interrupted again with an annoyed sigh.

"Adam, just me finish. I know this is the only work you've known. Sven can at least make explosives and wire stuff, Carl knows how to fish and I can play doctor. You're the only one whose skills were singularly set in the dispatching of people. That's probably why you don't want to give up being a Regulator yet. Just, at least consider retiring sometime soon. We can teach you something." James offered.

"There's still a lot of evil out there, James." Adam retorted grumpily.

"And we've taught a lot of new Regulators. We're not young men anymore, Adam." James argued.

"Speak for yourself." Adam muttered.

James sighed.

"Adam, I just want you to think about this. I've operated on a lot of Regulators, get them patched up after they got wounded. I was also the one to tell a lot of them that they probably got their last battle wound and that they should consider retiring, putting up their guns. I've gone through many of them. Marksmen, heavy weapons, demolitions, riflemen…but there's one group I never had to give the retiring speech to." James said.

"Oh? And what group would that be?" Adam asked.

"The assassins. Specifically the ones that relied heavily on stealth boys." James answered.

"They were that good, huh?" Adam smirked.

"Yes. But all of them made their last trip back from a mission in a body bag." James replied darkly.

"…Oh…" Adam squeaked.

"None of us want to see that happen to you." James said.

And from then on, the two stood in silence, watching the waters flow by.

* * *

"Well…this is awkward." Isaac muttered.

Despite her unseeing eyes, Tanya continued to look in his direction, arms folded in front of her while a triumphant smirk was etched across her face. Isaac would no longer look directly at her and, despite obviously not seeing that, she gathered he was fidgeting by the short, rapid but soft bursts of sound that were coming from his direction.

"Seriously, how dense can you be? Did you grow up in a vault?" Tanya jibbed.

"Actually, I _did_ grow up in a vault. Spent the first ten years of my life and then the family had to go and rebuild a city." Isaac replied.

Tanya, despite the involuntary twitching of her eyes, rolled them.

"Fine, whatever. Why are you so interested in making conversation? Can we just get down to business? I prefer to keep things impersonal." Tanya admitted.

"Whoa, no! There's gonna be no _business_ going on around here." Isaac sputtered.

"What?" Tanya asked, mouth dropped in shock.

"Come on, I'm not going to take advantage of you like that. You're a person, not merchandise." Isaac replied.

Tanya haltingly reached out and, finally finding his duster, snaked her hand up until it touched his face.

"You're frowning. You really are being sincere." Tanya observed.

"Why would I not be? Look, I'm tired and, nothing against you, but I just can't degrade someone like that. You're free for tonight. Just go." Isaac shrugged.

Tanya seemingly slumped and then clasped her hands together nervously.

"I…if you don't want to do anything that's fine…but could I just spend the night here then? Just don't send me out and my boss won't know any better." Tanya explained.

"What does your boss have anything to do with this?" Isaac asked, eyebrow raised.

"That's right, you guys got these rooms free. They're the best rooms in the house and they come at an expensive fee. However, it's made up for in comfortable lodgings and the company that goes along with it. If you catch my drift. Anyway, the boss doesn't like it when we're sent out. It doesn't make us or him look good. It doesn't matter what we tell him, he gets angry when it happens and our allowances suffer for it."

"Wait…are you slaves or employees?" Isaac demanded.

Tanya sighed.

"Employees. Most of the girls who have this position can eventually pay their way out or at least save up to make an investment elsewhere. I uh…I just stay here because it's all that I can do." Tanya admitted shyly.

"All that you can do? Surely there's got to be something else other than-"

"I'm blind, Isaac! At least I don't accidentally make any signals of disgust at the sight of the clients…I'm told that somehow gives me a higher price." Tanya replied softly.

She was surprised when she heard Isaac sigh mournfully.

"Why do you even care?" Tanya asked, completely disbelieving his actions.

"…Wait a minute, you said 'girls.' Are there others in my friends-"

A rapid pounding echoed off his room door.

Isaac carefully opened the door to find a grouchy looking Joseph standing stiffly in the hall as well as a rather disgruntled if still dazed David trying to lock in on Isaac's position.

"Isaac…there's a nafka in my room…and I'm a little fercockt…" David blathered.

"You. Talk to the girl in my room. Tell her to leave." Joseph ordered, tapping Isaac on the chest with a heavy finger for emphasis.

"Joseph, why me?" Isaac demanded.

"Because she won't shut up and neither do you. I figured you could speak her language." Joseph snapped.

"Oh yeah…I'm trying to tell the nafka in my room to gay avek but with my double vision, it's hard to talk to the right one." David admitted.

"David, could you please stop talking in gibberish." Isaac pleaded with a shake of his head.

"It's Yiddish." David retorted.

"Omigosh, okay guys look, here's the problem…" Isaac started before carefully and quietly trying to explain to them the situation that Tanya had told him previously. Clearly, none of the Regulators liked it.

"I - I vote we do something about it. That fershtinkiner shouldn't be taking advantage of people like that." David offered.

Joseph grunted his agreement.

"Whoa guys, um, I agree with that too. But at the same time I can't help but realize one of my Dad's old proverbs becomes strangely fitting for this situation." Isaac said.

"Oh? And what was your old man's proverb?" David asked.

"Dad told me, 'Son, don't ever stage a revolution in a brothel.'" Isaac recited.

David and Joseph stared at him.

"And what exactly, pray tell, did your old man mean by that?" David asked in bewilderment.

"Truthfully, I'm not sure but I really don't think we should go in there guns blazing. Look, we're all tired. Just find a way to accommodate the girls for the night and we'll resolve it peacefully tomorrow morning." Isaac offered.

"Fine." Joseph muttered and left. David followed his example.

Isaac returned to his room and shut the door with a relieved sigh. He glanced over at Tanya who was sitting on the bench where he originally spotted her. He wondered why she even bothered facing his direction as he was certain her ears did all the sensing she ever needed. He raised an eyebrow at her when she stifled a giggle.

"It seems you have a rather colorful team." Tanya observed with some mirth.

"I like them but they're often a handful at times." Isaac replied, finally setting his rifle on the floor and leaning it against the wall.

"Now, back to what you were saying that this is all you can do. Surely, there must be something else, someone else who can take you in and not make you sell yourself." Isaac started, looking back at Tanya.

"And once again I ask you, why do you even care, Isaac?" Tanya asked, almost venomously.

"Because maybe I feel like you deserve something better." Isaac answered with a defensive shrug.

"Ha, really? What's your real motive? No one is just that nice from the goodness of their heart anymore." Tanya snorted.

"Well, maybe I am just a nice guy who wants good things for everyone. Like I said, no one should be a piece of merchandise. It's not the way it was meant to be." Isaac explained.

"Isaac, no one can afford to be that selfless, especially these days." Tanya said, feeling like she was lecturing someone too naive for their own good.

"You sure? My parents and their friends made a career of doing it." Isaac retorted.

"And how did that work out?" Tanya asked skeptically.

"Not bad." Isaac smirked.

"Okay, maybe in some stupid way you're a sweet guy, Isaac, but lets face it, I'm blind, this is all I know and no one will get me out of this and into a better place. I've learned to accept it, Isaac. Maybe you should do the same." Tanya said softly.

"If I was just going to accept the way things were, I would not have become a Regulator. Now, follow me." Isaac offered, taking her hand and gently leading her off the bench.

"Ha, and you said we weren't going to do business. Guess you're not such a saintly hero, are you?" Tanya laughed bitterly.

"Not quite. You get the bed tonight, I'm sleeping on the couch. Maybe I can think of a solution. Night." Isaac said quickly, flopping her on the bed before kicking off his boots and crashing on the couch.

"I-Isaac?" Tanya asked.

When all she got was a snore, she shifted uncomfortably and simply curled up to sleep.

* * *

It seemed like all hell broke loose as soon as the Carbide Tempest stepped out of the alleyway. Immediately on both flanks they were drawing fire from close range, super mutants were practically in their faces. The Brotherhood of Steel knights let their power armor absorb the rounds and started firing back as best as they could. On their right, Evelyn fired with her tri-laser blaster while Birns fired his revolver with his free hand. Felson couldn't do anything on account of his injuries while Hardings could not fire until his wounded comrade was in a safe place.

Lowell meanwhile had charged headlong into the group on their left.

Evelyn, despite every fiber in her being wanting to, knew better than to call after her brother. Lowell, though never in a furious rage, seemed to have a controlled blood lust, especially for super mutants. Raiders were just too easy for Lowell. Super mutants seemed to be on the level for him.

The first mutant he quickly dispatched with several deft bursts from his laser rifle, all the while charging into his green enemies. Drawing his palm blade machete, Lowell then cut into the next one in his path, first impaling and then disemboweling the creature with the aide of the mechanically powered joints in his armor.

The reason Lowell became a Paladin so quickly was because when he was under the fog of battle lust combined with his well practiced maneuvers, even Super Mutants learned to fear him.

The last mutant falling to his feet with its skull bashed in, Lowell turned around to see that the rest of his team had temporarily driven back the Super Mutants and now their attention had turned to Felson. Apparently, his condition had gotten so bad that Evelyn was trying to treat him out in the open, no time to even try to find a defensive spot for him to hide behind.

Realizing that he was in too much pain, Evelyn opened her pack and was initially relieved to find that she had some coagulation powder to at least staunch the bleeding. However, there was a glaring problem that made her heart sink.

There was only one syringe of Med-X left.

"Evelyn, Med-X! It freaking hurts!" Felson screamed.

"Hold on." Evelyn said as soothingly as possible, gently pushing the fluid in a vein before addressing the bleeding.

They were relieved to see wind billowing around them, announcing that the vertibirds had arrived.

"_Raphael on site, please provide cover while we prepare the wounded for extract." _The pilot announced as the vertibird descended.

"_This is Apollo. We are on site and will provide fire support. Patrolling the area." _

Within moments, Felson was safely aboard the vertibird and the pilot Raphael was ascending unhindered into the sky. On the ground, the Carbide Tempest was joined by three Enclave power armor troops who were providing replacement support for the time being. After a couple tense moments, Raphael leveled off.

"_Package is secured and stabilized. Returning to Brotherhood base." _Raphael announced before rocketing out of sight.

The Carbide Tempest troopers breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a bright light lit the ground just as an explosion hit their ears. Turning in the right direction, they suddenly noticed that the vertibird piloted by Apollo had a massive fireball on its left wing. The aircraft was quickly spiraling off course as the pilot wrestled with the rebellious controls.

"_Mayday, mayday! This is Apollo, we've sustained damage from a ground based missile. We are going down command! I repeat, Apollo is going down!" _

The vertibird crashed out of sight into the ruins.

"Come on, we got to save the pilot!" one of the Enclave soldiers cried.

* * *

The next morning, the three Regulators were back on the road, the warmth of the orange, dawning sun was already starting to heat their backs. Remarkably, David seemed to be back to his normal self and Joseph was dead in the lead.

"Isaac, were you serious when you asked the Innkeeper about her price?" David asked curiously.

"Yep. I was completely serious." Isaac nodded.

"Well, what are you going to do when you get that amount of caps? Do you honestly hope to get that amount and then come back her and buy her out of there?" David inquired, clearly finding the whole endeavor quite incredulous.

"Worth a try." Isaac replied with a shrug.

"And then what?"

"She'll have freedom and I know there's a way for her to live in Albany without doing what she does now." Isaac answered.

"So uh…she must've really made an _impression_ last night, eh?" David smirked.

"I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, nothing happened last night." Isaac growled, rolling his eyes.

"Keep repeating it man, I haven't quite believed you yet." David snickered.

Up front, Joseph let out a light chuckle.

"I hate you." Isaac muttered.

* * *

The _Hammer's _arrival into the Albany harbor created more than just a little stir. Of course, there was the usual joyful reunion of the families that had been parted. However, there was also the matter of the new vault residents. At the moment, the vault dwellers were directed to the common house, a large, spacious building the provide shelter for those who did not otherwise own a private home at Albany. In the meantime, the Valdez family tried to work the an arrangement out with the Vanderbrauns. Carl had stayed on the ship which was in fact his home. Sven and Adam had returned to their own home, Adam to decide what to tell his wife, Sven to continue to fume at the Pipboy _still_ stuck to his arm.

"I'm sure there's a way we can arrange for the families to construct their own homes and get everyone some sort of occupation within Albany." James assured Frank, the former overseer and for now spokesperson for the Vault residents.

"I suppose. All I have are your assurances, and I don't mean that in any hostile way." Frank shrugged, almost apathetically. At this point, it was well beyond his hands.

"And I'm sure we can get the Boys training the men of your security force. That way they can help with the defense around Albany once they've been properly trained." Julia offered.

"That should also work." Frank nodded.

"So will we be staying with the rest of the people at the common house?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't think we have any other place available." James admitted.

"That's fine." Frank assured.

"Would you happen to have any working laboratories or workshops?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Maybe…but the closest we have to a workshop is the factory. If you want to have something close to your old laboratory, you might have to build one from scratch." James admitted, scratching his head thoughtfully.

It was at that moment Rat decided to appear from wherever he had been and introduced himself with a squeak, sitting on his hind legs.

Cynthia immediately shrieked.

"Omigosh, Frank, it's a giant rat!" Cynthia squealed, diving behind her husband.

"Easy, honey, it looks harmless." Frank said, though his countenance clearly showed he was not sure himself.

"Oh, don't worry, that's just our pet. Rat." Julia assured them.

Poor rat had been startled by Cynthia's cry and had dived back a couple feet, staring at them with wide, beady eyes.

"But it's filthy!" Cynthia complained.

"Uh…actually, he does a pretty good job grooming himself on a regular basis, almost daily." Julia defended, almost insulted.

"Squeak!" Rat retorted, sounding indignant.

"This is incredible! All the theories were right. The tremendous amount of radiation has altered the rodents' genetics, causing them to grow to an above average size. Utterly fascinating!" Sarah cried, bending down to get a better look at Rat.

Rat decided she was his new best friend.

Eventually, Rat followed Julia and James back to their house. As she couple entered their house, Julia could not help but notice that James was carrying something she had never quite seen before. She eventually had to ask.

"What is that thing you're carrying in that vase of water? Is it some sort of plant?" Julia asked.

"Oh, it's something from the vault that Sarah was working on, an experiment of hers. She said I could keep it after I found it. She said it was called a 'Rose.'" James explained.

"And why did you want to keep it?" Julia asked, sounding amused.

"I wanted you to have it. It reminded me of you." James admitted, handing it to her. He felt a little awkward doing so and yet something about the situation told him it was the right thing to do.

And for a brief moment, Rat watched the two of them stare at the lush, single flower, floating in a pool of slightly, irradiated water. Somehow, in the midst of all the madness and destruction that had surrounded them, in a seemingly permanently scarred world, there sat a single token of something that was beautiful.

Rat did his best to follow them, but promptly bumped his nose when the bedroom door swiftly shut behind them.

Grumbling at the pain in his snout, Rat briefly wondered why they were retiring so early in the evening. Deciding that he could never get humans and that he still far from tired, Rat left to go and harass Asimov.

* * *

When the skies had turned dark and all that remained of the twilight were the scattered dots of the stars, a single object thundered through the heavens. Breaking the stillness with the roar of its single engine and casting its own light in the night, the machine stormed on towards its destination. It was heading south and it was moving fast.

Posted on its side was a single line.

**Lab 18**

* * *

_Author's Note: Thanks again to Sundaywinterchild and Forfie for their help on this chapter. _


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: To answer some reviews, I really wish I could go public with this but alas, I doubt Bethesda has noticed this, much less would have the motivation to open a spot for me on their story writing team.

Otherwise, you know, I'd write all day long and get paid for it.

Thanks for reviews and to those contributing. You know who you are.

* * *

"_Love and that what you will, do."_

-Saint Augustine

"_If you are truthful you will survive. If you lie you shall perish."_

-Khalid ibn al-Walid

"_People are accustomed to look at the heavens and to wonder what happens there. It would be better if they would look within themselves, to see what happens there."_

-Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

* * *

Evelyn was panting hard, unheard by her comrades but still very known to her as the sound resounded within her helmet. Whether or not her brother was thrilled about it, the Carbide Tempest stormed right behind their Enclave counterparts back into the ruins to save the downed pilot known as Apollo. Somewhere, Evelyn barely registered the conversation she heard over the radio between her brother and the universal channel with Gabriel.

"Carbide Tempest to Gabriel, we are going in to recover Apollo. Has he radioed you, Gabriel? We will need backup if he's still alive." Lowell radioed.

"Understood, Carbide Tempest. Still no transmission from Apollo. Valkyrie and Uriel have been dispatched to your location. Raphael is still transporting the wounded but will return immediately." Gabriel reported.

"Understood, Gabriel. Keep us posted." Lowell answered.

Evelyn realized she was on the verge of hyperventilating and struggled to regulate her breath. Fear was encroaching around her again as they continued to rush headlong into the narrow passageways. They could hear the foreboding, heavier footsteps of the super mutants in the area and yet could not see them. Meanwhile, Evelyn could feel the vessels in her neck seemingly constrict while a numbness hovered in her knees and fingers.

And she had used the last syringe of Med-X on Felson.

"He can't be that much further into the ruins." The more desperate sounding of the Enclave soldiers said shakily, clutching his laser rifle.

"Keep together, cut radio chatter to a minimum. Form up. Hardings, take point, Enclaves, file up behind him, Knight Captain in front of me, watch our back Birns." Lowell commanded quietly.

They quickly fell into their places, clutching their weapons.

Evelyn struggled to keep herself together, clinging to her sanity by the skin of her teeth.

They could see the shadows cast by the burning wreckage. It was just around the bend. Unfortunately, the shadows cast were those of lumbering super mutants.

* * *

It was not well aboard the _Half Moon_. Like most of the mariners within the Albany harbor, their ships also doubled as their homes. The same was true for Alexandra and Adam. Alexandra was not taking the news well.

"Adam, you said that after this mission you would retire." Alexandra declared, her voice conveying hurt.

"And technically speaking, the mission isn't over." Adam muttered.

"Could you not let others take over from there and finish up the mission? Besides, like you said, this is nothing like anything you guys have done before." Alexandra replied.

"Alex, why are you so upset? We're just going down to see Francis, explain to him the situation and see where it goes from there." Adam answered in exasperation.

"You want to know why I'm so upset? You slept with an SMG under your pillow _and_ a stealth boy on your wrist. This isn't the wastes, Adam. This is your home and still you're paranoid. You're not even acting yourself anymore! This job is getting to you, Adam and you're going to make a mistake! I should ask you if you're even all right!" Alex cried, mist starting to form in her eyes.

Adam sighed.

"I'll be all right, okay? And I promise, as soon as this _whole_ mission is over, I'll retire. I promise." Adam reiterated with emphasis.

"Adam, just please…come back home. I'm becoming more worried about you." Alexandra pleaded.

"I'll be all right." Adam answered flatly.

Elsewhere, Julia was quietly watching James get ready for his next journey. First the palm blade machete and plasma pistol, then his large side bag filled with medical supplies, extra ammunition stuffed in any spare nooks or crannies left in his satchel before finally slinging the sniper rifle behind his back.

"Be safe out there, James." Julia whispered, spontaneous embracing him when he turned around to face her.

"We're only going to speak with Francis." James chuckled, stroking her back.

"I'm more worried about what will happen after that." Julia admitted, still burying herself into him.

"We'll take it one day at a time, sweetheart." James said softly, still holding her.

"All right." Julia replied.

James chuckled.

"What?" Julia asked curiously.

"You got me off mentats, wired a prosthetic when I lost my arm, was the best mother to our children and for some reason you've been crazy enough to still love me all these years. You're the best thing to happen to me, Julia." James complimented before pecking her lips and heading for the door to go outside.

James stopped short when he heard a familiar sound that sent chills down his spine.

"Julia…do you hear that?" James asked, feeling the wind start to rush through his hair.

"Yes…but what is it?" Julia muttered, joining him at the doorway.

"…Oh…shoot…" James sputtered, looking up into the sky.

The shape of a helicopter descending from the sky sent bad memories rocketing through his mind.

"Do not fire, we wish to speak with the Liberators. We mean no harm." A voice over a megaphone thundered from the aircraft over the noise of the rotors. Nonetheless, James looked over to see Adam carefully walking towards the place where the helicopter would land. Sven and Carl also appeared. Across from them, he could see Frank standing behind the Boys who were in a line, weapons drawn.

"Didn't you say those flying machines are the bad guys?" Frank called.

"Should we open fire, Mr. V?" Anthony asked.

"Hold on guys, something is different about this one." James replied, just in time for the helicopter to hit the dirt.

Immediately, through the dust kicked up by the billowing wind from the rotors, two Lab 18 power armored soldiers stepped from the side door. The sight brought bile in the mouths of all the Liberators. It was something they could never forget. The armor appeared thinner, lighter and allowed the wearer more agility than the armor of the Enclave and yet it was much more resilient, tougher.

And then, as if to diffuse the situation, a woman dressed simply in a scientist's uniform with a white skirt stepped off the helicopter. She promptly started making her way over to James and Julia who still had not left the doorway.

"James? Julia? Vanderbraun, right?" the woman asked.

"You are…you look familiar." James frowned, searching through his memory banks.

"Eleanor? Eleanor Morgan?" Julia asked in shock.

"That's Lowell Morgan's daughter, I can see the resemblance." Adam said, walking up to them, Carl and Sven also approaching. Carl was busy squinting at her to try and verify what Adam was saying. No one knew exactly what Sven was doing under his mask other than his wheezing.

Lowell Morgan was Adam's childhood friend and fellow Regulator. They had reunited several years back while Lowell had tried to put his past behind him only to have it find him again. Lowell Morgan put to rest the man who had ruined his life and was reunited with his daughter, Eleanor Morgan. This happened before he fell in the battle at Liberty Island.

Eleanor meanwhile had gone off to become a head scientist at Lab 18, their old enemy.

"I'm so glad all of you are here and still alive, but I have to talk to you all about something important. Forgive me, it's not much of an introduction but time is of the essence." Eleanor explained quickly, her brown locks draping around her face.

"It's been twenty years. You've grown up, Ellie." Adam said, almost in shock himself at how much she had grown.

"Thank you, Adam. But please, can we all speak somewhere private? This is a delicate matter." Eleanor explained.

They all disappeared again in the Vanderbraun residence.

* * *

Before the bombs fell, there were exotic animals all along the United States, often brought there from overseas. Of course, some of these animals, becoming pets, were often bred in mass farms. In one place in former Pennsylvania, there was a single breeding center devoted to a certain creature.

When the bombs devastated the country, most of the creatures in the center died, as could be expected. However, a small portion survived and doggedly stayed on, trying to survive in the hostile new world. Of that small population, certain individuals started to thrive in the radioactive environment.

Eventually, these mutated creatures became a known sight in their local. Although they were not rampant by any means, they still defined a creature that had managed to etch a small but firm living in the new, irradiated world.

Originally, the creature lived off of plant matter and insects but desperate times had called for desperate measures. In the process of trying to survive, some of the more mutated individuals acquired taste for meat. This eventually made the current specimens true omnivores that ate whatever they could get their mouths on.

The locals gave them the name "Spike Dogs."

Originally, they were known as hedgehogs.

* * *

Isaac, Joseph and David sat in a partial circle enjoying a quick lunch over fresh Brahmin meat. David looked especially content but Joseph was eyeing the food with a bit of skepticism. Isaac seemed otherwise ambivalent to the whole matter.

"Now…why did you go through that elaborate slaughtering and hunting process again?" Joseph asked David.

"So the meat would be Kosher. That, and I can't just nab any old animal. It had to be a Brahmin because they're Kosher." David explained.

"…But it also has to be prepared a certain way to be Kosher?" Joseph inquired.

"Correct. Both the animal and the process have to be up to par." David nodded.

"…Still not getting anywhere close to getting you." Joseph muttered.

"Never asked you to, man." David shrugged, taking another chomp on the meat.

"Hey! Whoa there!" Isaac suddenly called out. Joseph and David turned around to see what had startled them.

A sizable creature, a bit larger than a volleyball, suddenly wandered up from behind them and was intently sniffing at the Brahmin meat, still hanging from a true. It was nothing like the men had seen before. They wanted to say it resembled a mole rat and yet it was much different. First off it had fur but then again, most of the fur was in fact what looked to be thick, sharp looking spikes that were probably about half a foot in length.

"What the heck is that?" Isaac asked, tilting his head.

"Get it away from the food." David shooed.

"I have never seen something like that. It must be a local creature." Joseph observed.

Any further discussion was suddenly cut off by a thundering roar.

Off in the distance was a death claw.

"Oh shoot!" Isaac hissed.

"Gay Avek, gay avek!" David sputtered, trotting a distance before diving behind a rock.

"This is what happens when I listen to you idiots instead of listening to the land. Follow him." Joseph growled, fishing out his tomahawk while simultaneous dragging Isaac toward where David had hid.

That left the spikey creature alone with the Brahmin carcass and the Death Claw thundering up to it.

Cautiously poking their heads over the rock, the men watched in morbid fascination. They could not believe it but the prickly animal, upon sensing the Death Claw, simply curled up into a ball, hiding even its head and appendages into a spherical mass of protruding, barbed spikes.

"Never seen that before." David whispered.

Rushing up to the Brahmin carcass, the Death Claw noticed the other animal first and sniffed at it. It certainly appeared that it was sizing up the opportunity to add more food to its find.

The spike dog simply sat there, curled up in a ball.

Roaring, the Death Claw chomped down the ball of pins.

It immediately spat it out and shrieked in agony and rage.

Barbed pins were all over the Death Claw's face while the Spike Dog simply remained in a placid looking ball. It was uncertain if the creature suffered any harm but the three Regulators decided that it was still alive.

The Death Claw's attempt to slash at it with its claws were met with disaster. Not only did the forest of spikes deflect the razor sharp claws, a number of them impaled the attacker's hand.

Any further torment to either creature was ended by a well placed round from Isaac's Excelsior Rifle.

Upon the Death Claw hitting the earth, the Spike Dog waited a moment. Deciding all was clear, it promptly unwound itself from being a ball and popped back out on its four legs. It immediately started chewing into the Death Claw carcass.

The Regulators were not sure what to do from here.

* * *

Eleanor had grown into a competent woman. That much was obvious by the way she composed herself, the vibe she seemed to give off. This was no surprise. It could only be expected of someone who had spent years being in charge of a science facility.

So, despite not seeing her for a couple years, they could tell her fidgeting was not a good sign.

"What do you need to tell us, Eleanor?" Julia asked.

Eleanor Morgan took in all their faces with the exception of Sven who was still had his mask on. She started with a sigh to compose herself before she began the story.

"A couple days ago several men visited out facility claiming that they were representatives of an organization down south, a settlement from further away than DC. They claimed they had heard of our facilities and wanted to offer an exchange of anything that both parties would find useful. It was fishy though, because something didn't seem right with them and they would not talk about their organization any further. Another problem was that they kept asking about our virus program." Eleanor said, almost apologetically. The regret in her eyes foreshadowed what she was about to say.

"What did they take?" Adam demanded, cutting to the point.

Eleanor winced and hung her head.

"It happened so suddenly. It was like they had rehearsed it. Our guards were either shot down or disarmed and I was held at gunpoint. I…I didn't want to die. I knew I should not have told them but I was so scared…I didn't want to die." Eleanor mourned, tears starting to form at her eyes.

"Eleanor, it's okay. No one can blame you but you need to tell us what they took." Julia said, putting her hands on the younger woman's shoulders.

"They…they took Virus 8191. The one usually called the 'New York Scourge.'" Eleanor whimpered.

The silence became so oppressive it threatened to suffocate them.

Julia was the only survivor they knew of to live past the dreadful sickness that many had called the New York Scourge. As far as they knew, it was a genetically modified bio-weapon created by Lab 18. Twenty years ago, their former enemies, under the directives of a madman, released the virus on dozens of communities across the New York landscape. Countless people died, bleeding in their own bodies as red blisters formed all over their skin. Julia was blessed to survive it but she never fully recovered her strength from the ordeal. It heralded the end of her time in the field.

"…Do you know who took it?" James asked.

"No…they never told us their names." Eleanor admitted, still shedding tears as Julia held her.

The Liberators cast an uneasy glance among them as they digested what they just heard.

"Carl, get the _Hammer_ ready. We need to get to Francis quickly. We have a lot to tell him." Adam ordered.

* * *

Evelyn did not know when the fire started. All she knew was that at one moment they were tense and anticipated with fear the first inevitable contact they would have with the super mutants. The next moment they were truly afraid.

More frightening than the sound of laser blasts and gunfire was the sound of the mutants communicating with each other and the distinct voice of Ghemaath giving orders.

"Hold formation, keep firing, keep the pressure on!" Lowell ordered his troops.

Evelyn quietly pleaded with herself that she would try and keep it together.

Truth be told, the only advantage the soldiers had over the mutants was their power armor. Already, two grenades had been tossed within the narrow passageway and it was only the high protection of their armor that had kept them alive. Lowell was tactically using this to their advantage as it was really the only thing he had left to go on. However, once they started running into energy weapons that advantage would be drastically lowered. Still, they had to keep pressing on.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally managed to push their way into the open space where they knew the burning wreck of the vertibird would be. Their only hope was that somehow the pilot was still alive and had gone unnoticed by the super mutants. They were still trading gunfire as Birns entered in as the vanguard, the Enclave troops right behind him.

It was then that they noticed, standing smugly, a commanding super mutant had a very discontent and haggard looking pilot in his grasp.

It was Ghemaath.

"You are very persistent…and probably very foolish. Was this one individual worth all that trouble?" Ghemaath snarled, hefting the pilot in one hand as if he was a rag doll.

"Drop him, Ghemaath." Lowell

"I'd rather not, see, I have plans for this human. He's much too valuable to be used as food." Ghemaath said.

The horrific epiphany hit the pilot. He reacted decisively.

"You'll have to bolt me together first, greenie."

Apollo pulled a spherical object from his flight jacket while the distinct _ping_ of a metal pin landing on the ground hit their ears. Immediately, the sphere in his hand started to glow an ominous green. Ghemaath glanced down at the pilot.

Plasma grenade.

Ghemaath threw the pilot called Apollo towards the burning wreck of the aircraft with a roar.

Apollo chucked the grenade at Ghemaath.

Immediately, the Enclave soldiers rushed to pluck their screaming comrade from the fire while Lowell ordered his remaining Carbide Tempest troopers to fire into the super mutants. From the corner of his eye, Lowell spotted a super mutant jump in front of Ghemaath just as the plasma grenade detonated.

It became chaotic. Lowell could see the Enclave soldiers still dragging Apollo who, though clearly pained and injured, was still hurling insults at the super mutants. Lowell felt himself yelling for Birns and Hardings to cover their retreat. He glanced over and to his great shock and dismay, Evelyn fell over onto the ground. Lowell could not know if she was injured, what shot or had somehow blacked out. All he could do was reach out and drag his sister's limp form as they retreated out of the ruins.

* * *

The spiky creature was following them.

At first, the three Regulators tried to ignore it. After all, since it did not appear completely hostile and was not bothering them, it was not worth the effort to try and otherwise harm the animal. However, they were all a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a massive, living, reverse pincushion tailing them.

They got answers when they passed a local caravan group along the road.

Apparently, the creatures were called "Spike Dogs." The general rule around the animals was that so long as you did not bother them, they usually did not bother you. Furthermore, their temperaments and personalities varied from each individual but generally, they were an odd blend of curious and cautious. It was not uncommon to see a Spike Dog wander wherever it pleased due to its surrounding, prickly armor but the moment they so much as sensed something they did not like, they would universally curl up into a spiny ball.

The caravan merchant told them that if a Spike Dog did decide to follow a group of people around, it was usually because the Spike Dog decided that the people would either be an easy supply of food or end up becoming food themselves. Spike Dogs were not picky.

"So…basically, that guy thinks we'd make an easy lunch? Or at least become an easy lunch?" David asked, jabbing his thumb at the spike dog still following them from a distance of several yards.

"Either that or we'll give him a steady supply of lunches. Besides, he found us with a brahmin carcass and we served up a death claw for him. He probably thinks we're a walking food supply." Isaac shrugged.

"It might be another mouth to feed, but at least it knows how to keep quiet." Joseph muttered up front.

The spike dog let out a raspy bark.

"I retract my previous statement." Joseph sighed.

"Well, if he's going to be hanging out with us, we might as well give him a name." David suggested.

"Really?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah." David nodded.

"No. You name it and then you start to grow attached to it and then you'll refuse to eat it if we ever fall on hard times." Joseph protested, still walking in the lead.

"Hey man, I can't eat that sucker, period. He's not kosher." David informed.

"I give up." Joseph grumbled.

"I'm thinking 'Spike.'" David offered.

"Oh that's really original. Name a creature called a 'Spike Dog' 'Spike.'" Isaac retorted with a snicker.

"You got a better name?" David replied.

"I don't know. He looks like an 'Ambrose' to me." Isaac shrugged.

"He does not. Hmm, we need to think about this." David muttered, his eyebrows dipping.

"We do? I seriously doubt our need to think about this." Joseph replied.

Any further bantering was cut short by a distant gunshot.

* * *

Francis was behind his very ancient desk, usual glass of water sitting atop of it while his plasma rifle rested next to it. At this point, the firearm was probably more of an ornament than anything else. He had not used it in years. Meanwhile, a radio also sat to his side where he could directly contact Mark, the official Regulator master stationed in New York City. Mark was listening in through the radio at the moment.

Behind him were shelves of books, both reading material, records and reports.

Francis, the man sitting at the desk, looked like he had aged furthermore since the Liberators last saw him and that was only a couple weeks ago.

"So…" Francis started with a sigh.

The Liberators stared at him with blank faces, sitting in a row.

"The Hierarchy and Western Coalition both blame each other, it will be impossible to figure out who threw the first stone, and communications have broke down. Meanwhile, Albany gets hit with a very large and organized raider attack while the New York Scourge virus sample gets stolen from the Lab 18 freezers." Francis summed up.

"Sounds like it. We promised Warlord Yeohart of the W.C that we wouldn't fire on them." Adam reminded.

"Yes, unfortunately, the northern part of the state is not the only place that's a hot zone at the moment." Francis grumbled wearily.

"What do you mean?" James asked with concern.

"Care to fill them in, Mark?" Francis barked at the radio microphone.

They heard Mark clear his throat over the radio before starting.

"Yeah, simply put, we're getting a new Super Mutant invasion here in the city."

"I swear it's a cycle with these super mutants hitting the city." Adam muttered.

"It's true, expect this time they're smart, at least that's what the reports I'm getting from our boys in the field are saying." Mark replied.

"Define 'smart.'" James said.

"They use actual tactics in a fight, fall back when they sense the battle is not in their favor, they even communicate with each other instead of fighting like mindless, gun totting idiots."

"That's something new." James muttered.

"That's not even the half of it. The Enclave and Brotherhood of Steel are working together too. All to fight back against this new strain of Super Mutants." Mark added.

"Wait, what?" Carl sputtered.

"My question exactly." James nodded.

"That's a bad joke, Mark." Adam muttered.

"No joke. I'm serious. Squads are reporting Brotherhood knights working alongside Enclave troops on the streets. That's the only reason they've not fired on them. Hence why we're losing a lot of fingers and killing more super mutants. I've taken to switching bounties over from Enclave to Super Mutants." Mark admitted.

"That's new." Francis grunted.

"So what do we do from here?" James asked, getting to the point.

Francis simply sat there for a moment. They could even hear Mark's tense breathing over the radio. Mark may have become the grandmaster of the Regulators in New York but Francis still held the power. Unfortunately, the old master realized that this situation was certainly more than he had ever seen before. The old man looked even more weighed upon than ever.

"Most of the caravan routes follow the Hudson River. Carl and Mark, see if you can organize the ships to run escorts with the caravans. Of course it'll mean that the ship board Regulators will have to focus more on the caravans than pirates but the river piracy has kind of died down." Francis started

"I'll see what I can do, Francis but most of the boys here are tied down fighting the Super Mutants. In fact, I was about to ask if you could find a way to send more down here." Mark admitted.

"I'll do what I can but don't expect a lot, Mark." Francis replied.

"What about us?" Sven asked through his breathing mask.

"Yes. Not to be morbid but I do not expect the virus to go missing and then not be used. James, I want you ready at a moment's notice to depart and examine any suspected sites of the scourge should they come. Sven, you're to go with him and make sure they get properly disposed of. Adam, you're the biggest schoomzer I got. Once I figure out how we're going to try to get the Hierarchy and Western Coalition to stop killing each other, you're going north again." Francis answered.

None of them were too thrilled with their assignments.

"What about that raider attack on Albany? What do you think that was because it just does not strike of normal raiders." Carl said.

"We have no information and the bodies were burned. I can only say you'll have to wait and see. Pray that nothing else befalls the city as New York is already under siege." Francis replied.


	15. Chapter 15

"_Here one must leave behind all hesitation; here every cowardice must meet its death"_ – Virgil before entering the gates of Hell

Canto III, Divine Comedy

* * *

Joseph moved in a well practiced crouching run, honed after years of hunting on the move and figuratively tightening the noose before an ambush. The leather boots he wore, crafted in the traditional fashion of his people, barely betrayed any sound as he pressed forward towards the sound of the gunfire. It was becoming less sporadic. The Nation Regulator felt his blood surge with frustration. He wanted to find out what the trouble was as soon as possible but discipline demanded that he keep silent.

He was not too thrilled about all the noise right behind him.

Both Isaac and David were behind him, trotting as best as they could as they already had their weapons shouldered. As far as Isaac and David were concerned, they were doing a decent job being quiet and stealthy as they trotted behind Joseph. Alas, in comparison to the well practiced hunters of the Nation, their efforts were deplorable and it was making Joseph grit his teeth in frustration.

The Spike Dog was rapidly waddling right behind them.

"They look like mercs. This could be a war between rival companies." Isaac observed, trying to take in the scene through his scope as he continued to move.

"New problem, who do we fire on then? If any?" David asked, increasing his pace so he could catch up to Joseph.

"I see black armor. That probably means Talon Company." Isaac said.

"There is a higher pitch yell. That means they've caught a woman from the other group. Stop talking, Isaac and take a shot. Throw them off." Joseph hissed.

"Lining up." Isaac said steadying himself and preparing to take the shot.

Joseph watched as one of the distant dark figures jolt and then fell to the ground.

Swiftly drawing back his bow, Joseph launched an arrow into the sky. He cast a quick glance at David who kept on running, apparently not comfortable with firing his assault rifle at this range with a hostage in the area. Joseph looked back to watch his silent missile drive down and land on the shoulder plate of one of the combat armor encased Talons. Superficially, the arrowhead just created a flesh wound and on its own would not have been lethal.

Pity the arrowhead was coated in a noxious brew of radscorpion venom and death claw salvia.

David continue to run, watching as the arrow impaled Talon cast an enraged if confused glance at the barbed missile stuck in his shoulder. He tried to pull at it but found the heavy barb too painful to be removed with his own strength. he resigned himself and decided to ignore it. It was the last thing he ever did before falling to the ground dead. That left a final, confused Talon standing over an obviously enraged woman. Getting to her feet, the female mercenary whipped out a revolver and unloaded it into the face of the final Talon.

David rushed up to her, quickly pulling himself together before panting, "Whew, you're lucky I rescued you."

Joseph and Isaac were right behind him and heard his remark. Isaac rolled his eyes and whacked David lightly across the back his head. David knew he deserved it and let out a small chuckle. The spike dog showed up right behind their heels.

In the wasteland, knights in shining armor look more like ragtag crews.

* * *

Evelyn awoke, quite unsure what was going on or where she even was. Every inch of her body felt heavy with sleep and her mind was still burdened with drowsiness. Slowly, she tried to figure out where she was. Eventually, it came to her that she was in her cot within the Brotherhood barracks. How had she gotten there? The last she remembered she was fighting super mutants, struggling to keep herself from hyperventilating when…

"You passed out, Evelyn."

Evelyn jumped, spinning to the side to find that Lowell was in the cot behind her.

"Wait…what?" Evelyn asked, still groggy, squinting as her eyes were still trying to adjust to the light.

"We were fighting the mutants in the ruins. One moment you were laying down covering fire and the next moment you passed out. I thought you had been hit but after we had you examined, the medics decided you had simply passed out. What happened?" Lowell demanded, obviously in concern, but still demanded.

"I-I got frightened, started breathing too quickly. I must've short out my oxygen intake." Evelyn sputtered.

Lowell sighed.

"That's never happened before, Evelyn. What happened this time?" Lowell asked.

"I…I don't know." Evelyn lied.

And for a moment, they sat in silence.

"Just try not to let it happen again, Knight Captain. I can't have my medic dropping out on me like that." Lowell finally chastised.

Evelyn glared at him.

"Is it really just going to come down to that now?" Evelyn snapped.

"What are you driving at, _Knight Captain, _because honestly, I don't know what's going on anymore. This has never happened before and I haven't a slightest clue what caused it but I'm very certain that I know you have a job to keep." Lowell hissed, warning Evelyn of the thin ice she now tread.

"…Nothing, nothing, Paladin." Evelyn sighed, remembering that lives depended on her job.

"We're suiting up tomorrow morning. You have until then to pull yourself together." Lowell muttered before promptly leaving.

* * *

Anthony, Otto, Gerald and Juan stared at the line of twenty vault security officers. They still wore their padded security armor which probably did provide a level of protection against some hostile force but it certainly was not as good as most combat armors that could be scavenged in the wastes.

As far as Regulator armor went, individual Regulators wore whatever armor they could. The Boys had chosen to fashioned their armors after their particular mentor. For example, Gerald did not have a full metal armor suit that Carl had but he had a metal breastplate. Otto still had not gotten his hands on a full suit of combat armor but hadhe stitched ballistic padding under his coat in James' example. Under Juan's duster was fireproof material and Anthony had light metal plates protecting his more sensitive joints and vital spots.

As far as weapons went, the security team was also armed with pristine and perfectly functioning 10mm pistols. Their quality was unheard of in the wastes.

And the list of good things to be said about them ended there.

"We got a bunch quivering yellow bellies here." Anthony muttered to Otto out of ear shot of the vaulties.

"I wish raiders were as fidgety as they are. It would make them easier to spot." Otto snickered.

"Come on guys, we're suppose to train them, not shot them." Gerald scolded under his breath.

"You kidding? If anything they'll probably shoot themselves." Juan pointed out, cigarette wagging in his mouth as he talked.

"All right, all right. You got a point, Gerald. Wouldn't want the bosses getting mad at us." Anthony conceded, walking towards the line of vaulties.

"I assume you all know how to operate your pistols?" Anthony spoke loudly for the security men to hear. They all nodded albeit nervously.

"All right. You got a line of targets in front of you. We're not going for speed yet. Just take practice shots at your targets. We want to see how good you are." Anthony announced, trying to smile.

Without further ado, the vaulties immediately opened fire on their targets, a row of bullseyes in front of them.

Otto immediately winced at the quality of their marksmanship.

"My gosh…Gerald, you're more accurate on full auto with your minigun." Otto said in disbelief.

"Yeah…" Gerald sighed.

"We got a lot of work to do." Anthony muttered, walking back towards them.

* * *

Isaac, Joseph and David stared at the woman in front of them. She was obviously a mercenary judging from the combat armor she wore. That in itself did not mean much but it was the same exact uniform her fallen comrades also had. She herself had brown colored skin with hazelnut eyes. Her black hair was tied back in a pony tail.

"So what brings you out here?" Isaac asked.

"None of your business." The woman shot back.

That took them a little bit aback.

"You at least got a name, miss?" David asked.

"Suda, I mean…" the woman backtracked her words, as if she had said something obscene. She finally relented, as if giving into something.

"Fine, my name is Suda, but that's all you need to know." The woman snapped.

She seemed rather angry about something.

"Hey, I can understand that you're a bit upset about your comrades dying and everything but if-"

"They were idiots. No one should have fallen for a Talon ambush like they did. Stupid, stupid, stupid." Suda growled, interrupting Isaac as she tugged the ammo off of one of the fallen.

"Hey, you want any help with that-"

"Back off!" Suda threatened, turning around to point a readied combat shotgun at David. David immediately took two steps back.

Suda went back to collecting the valuable supplies from the bodies of the fallen. Other than the spike dog sniffing at one of the bodies before promptly nibbling at their flesh and Suda still salvaging, the Regulators stood in silence.

"…So…we're heading towards DC. We could probably get you to the nearest town so you don't have to go by yourself." Isaac offered cautiously.

"Don't tell her that." Joseph hissed, smacking him over the head.

"Ow! Don't tell her what?" Isaac asked painfully.

"She doesn't need to know we're going to DC." Joseph snapped under his breath.

"I don't need your help." Suda grumbled, finally collecting what she wanted, mostly weapons and ammo.

"Suit yourself then." David replied.

"But I might as well come with you guys. I'm also going to DC." Suda answered.

"I'm Isaac, this is David and Joseph." Isaac introduced.

"Whatever." Suda shrugged apathetically.

Joseph simply grunted, looked around to get his bearings and immediately started trudging in the right direction. The others fell in place right behind him. The spike dog, noticing he was being left behind, ripped off a piece of flesh from one of the bodies and scurried off to catch up with the others, ligament still dangling in his snout.

* * *

Having returned to Albany, the Liberators decided to get back to the swing of things despite the bad news. Indeed, if there was one thing these men had in common, it was the occasional need to do something mundane and every day to provide at least some sort of momentary release from the grim reality of what work might bring. Adam knew that at least until Francis came up with a possible solution, he would be stuck sitting around at Albany. He thought about returning to the _Half Moon_ to give Alexandra half of the good news but that still left the other half which was bad. He instead decided to stall at the local tavern to figure out how to explain that. Carl was immediately trying to figure out a way to mobilize the ships he had on hand to escort the caravans while James and Sven decided return to the factories.

Sven returned to the explosives plant, opening the door with gusto and expected everything to be in its proper place. The fact that the wheezing from his filtration mask stopped and became silent signaled he had stopped breathing. He stared in shock at what he saw.

Sarah, the biologist from the vault, had set up shop in, well, his shop.

"What are you doing, little girl?" Sven demanded, still staring in shock at what Sarah had done.

Test tubes were set up in orderly fashion while all kinds of apparatuses and computers were in place and running. Tables held papers, notes and all manner of equipment. Sure, none of it interfered with his work place but still, it was jarring for the pyromaniac.

"This was the only place suitable for me to set up shop. Both this plant and the factory had the proper power source systems but the gun factory just isn't a good environment." Sarah explained, setting up a centrifuge.

"But an explosives plant is?" Sven asked rhetorically.

"Are you going to throw me out? It was the better of the two choices, especially since Cindy told me not a lot of people go through here." Sarah replied.

"Are you…messed up in the head?" Sven inquired.

"No, why would you ask that?" Sarah demanded, sounding insulted.

"If you want to work with me, you just might be. Fine, you can stay here but it would be a good idea to not bother me. It might be the last mistake you and I make." Sven shrugged, walking over to his usual table that was piled high with land mine parts.

"What do you mean?" Sarah inquired curiously, putting the final touches on her centrifuge.

"We'll both go out with a boom. Also, while you're here, can you please explain this thing to me?" Sven asked, sticking his arm out and practically shoving the Pip-boy 3000 in Sarah's face.

* * *

"I thinking he's still a 'Spike.'" David announced as they continued down the path. He was talking about the spike dog that was still doggedly following them. By now it had finished the human ligament and was simply tailing after them.

"I still think that's unoriginal. If anything, we should call him something clever, though what exactly that name should be still eludes me." Isaac offered.

"Do you two ever shut up?" Suda growled, her face set scornfully.

"I say the same thing all the time." Joseph muttered.

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Suda shot at the Native American.

Joseph simply grunted and kept walking.

Isaac and David decided to ignore her before continuing their discussion about the spike dog.

"Well he seems energetic enough…" Isaac observed, watching as the spike dog would wander closer to them then stray back a bit before dashing up to weave his way through them, constantly sniffing and chirping at them.

"Hey, stay back." Suda spat at the spike dog.

The spike dog immediately barked angrily at her.

Suda gave it the finger.

The spike dog bit her boot.

"Ow, you stupid creature! I should blow your brains out!" Suda shouted, shaking the livid ball of spikes off her boot and pointing her shotgun at it.

"You kind of asked for it." Isaac muttered with a shrug.

"Don't tempt me, Regulator." Suda retorted irritably.

The spike dog was growling savagely at Suda.

"We should call him Furious." David suggested.

"Furious the spike dog, huh? I'll by that." Isaac agreed with a nod.

Furious let out an approving chirp and then got back to sniffing at the ground and staying within their peripherals.

"What are you, a bunch of Regulators or a group of clowns?" Suda cried.

"They're the clowns, I'm the only sane one here." Joseph muttered.

"Oh shut up, you're just as bad as they are." Suda snapped.

"I'm really not liking her." David whispered to Isaac.

"I'm sure there's a reason she's acting like this." Isaac muttered back.

"Always got to give people the benefit of the doubt, huh?" David asked.

"Sure, why not?" Isaac shrugged.

"Why do you two always need to talk?" Suda screeched.

* * *

James managed to corner Eleanor Morgan before she left Albany. She was just about to step aboard the Lab 18 helicopter. The Lab 18 security troops had already boarded and James could see the rotors were starting to warm up, slowly but surely starting to rotate.

"Eleanor." James called.

"Yes, Mr. Vanderbraun?" Eleanor asked, turning around to face him, her hair starting to billow in the wind.

"I'll need your radio frequency. If there's an outbreak of the virus…we'll need your help trying to contain it. Besides, you have these fly machines. You're more equipped to handle these things than we are." James said.

"Good point, Mr. Vanderbraun. I'll have the proper forces prepared to move out at a moment's notice. Here's my frequency. I…I hope we'll never have to use it." Eleanor admitted.

"Neither do I." James murmured, watching her enter the helicopter before it ascended into the sky.

* * *

That evening Isaac, Joseph and David sat by the fire they decided would be all right to ignite. The three cast an odd glance at Suda who sat further away. Furious would find random things to sniff at but eventually settled to park himself closer to the fire and lounge in the dirt.

"You know, you can sit closer to the fire. We don't bite." Isaac said to Suda.

"Haha, no thanks." Suda spat, sounding resentful of the idea.

"What's that tone suppose to mean?" David asked, sounding insulted.

"There's three of you and one of me. I think I'll stay safe here where I can keep my shotgun pointed at you guys, just so you all don't get any ideas." Suda replied, watching them with distrust.

"Whoa, no need for all the hate. We're not going to do anything to you." David said.

"Right. You don't know how many times I heard that line before I got taken advantage of." Suda muttered.

"Maybe we're not like most guys." Isaac offered.

"You keep telling yourself that. You better say something before walking close to me otherwise I can't guarantee your safety." Suda warned before lying down, presumably to rest but it appeared she intended to keep one eye open.

"She's got serious issues." David grumbled quietly.

"At least I know I'm probably the only level headed one here." Joseph muttered.

Furious hissed at him.

Joseph growled back.

"I'm not sure if there's anyone sane here anymore." Isaac sighed, bringing a palm to his forehead.

* * *

Back at Haven, General Omedea stood in his command center listening to his trusted lieutenants report to him the news they had received. He was very expectant on this meeting. He wanted to hear how the covert raid on Albany had gone.

"Sir, none of the men returned." One of Omedea's field marshals reported.

"What? Such numbers were usually enough to squash whole towns with ease and we don't have a single survivor to report on what happened?" Omedea growled.

"Scouts spotted the remains of a large fire from one of the outside trenches of the town. We assume that was where they burned the bodies." The field marshal explained.

"Please tell me they were dressed as raiders." Omedea grumbled in frustration.

"Yes, General. They should more likely suspect the Western Coalition than us on that matter." The field marshal nodded.

"Fine. Looks like those Liberators were good teachers as well. We'll have to figure out another way to tackle this…how about that team we sent up north. How did that go?" Omedea demanded, looking at another lieutenant.

"The special forces team radioed and said they were able to recover the virus sample from Lab 18." The lieutenant replied.

"Good. Now, we'll have another weapon to use that will certainly be to our advantage." Omedea murmured.

"Sir…I have to report that that weapon may have fired prematurely." The lieutenant replied apologetically.

Omedea's response was deathly calm.

"What do you mean it _fired_ prematurely?" Omedea demanded through clenched teeth.

"Lets just say the strike team radioed that they would not be coming home. They sounded in agony before the last transmission…but they did say they found a caravan before they cut out."


	16. Chapter 16

_We are torn and broken_

_Our strength fails us_

_Our wings are plucked and frayed_

_And still a divine music calls to us, driving us_

_So now we'll take up these dusters yet again_

_Even if it should return us to the dust_

_

* * *

_

Delta Sierra squat down at the rise of a small hill. It was daylight out but to anyone who would so much as look in his direction, he might as well have been a vapor. His modified stealth suit was activated.

Shouldered and readied was his silenced, anti-material sniper rifle.

Down his scope were two super mutants.

The ramifications of this event were far more important than at first glance. First off, these were the first mutants he had seen since his mission began and that was getting close to a week ago. What was even more curious was that there were only two of them. However, the most perplexing thing of the situation was that there they were not even heading the direction of New York. They were going the same direction he was heading in, east, deeper into Connecticut.

That just did not seem to add up.

There was one last foreboding thing to it all. The other day, ENCOM radioed him. The message they sent was short, abrupt and rather discouraging. Gamma Rio had gone silent and fallen off the radar. There was no official statement on the matter but for now ENCOM was waiting for him either to re-appear or for either Delta Sierra or Tau Mar to find any evidence of him.

It looked like everything was coming to a head. He only wondered how the events would unfold from here.

And with that thought, Delta Sierra calmly squeezed the trigger twice and both mutants lost their heads.

* * *

No one within the Brotherhood of Steel ranks wanted to admit it. It was like a horrible yet somehow sweet secret lingering in the back of their minds, a fading specter of a thought that refused to be acknowledged and yet was still there. The problem was it also left a bitter aftertaste.

There certainly were a few perks to having the Enclave working with them.

Felson had already recovered from his wounds and was walking, albeit with a slight limp, alongside them.

"So what's the mission?" Hardings asked as he continued to take point, weaving through the ruined hulls of cars down the broad street.

"While we were busy with our little drama yesterday, a major battle occurred a bit south to us. Many of our squads were funneled into what turned out to be a massive engagement with numerous Neo Human Effort mutants. It became so prolonged the Enclave started to send as many of their troopers as possible. Even the House sent some Regulator squads after they got the news." Lowell explained.

"So we're being sent to reinforce the position?" Birns asked, readying his Excelsior rifle.

"Actually no, we're being sent to escort an important ally back from the front lines." Lowell replied.

"Just one ally? That sounds a bit strange to me. Couldn't a medic just patch him up over there?" Evelyn replied.

"I'd agree with you, Knight Captain, and then I found out exactly who this ally was. He's the whole reason the New Human Effort turned around last night and why we didn't take any more casualties than we did." Lowell said quietly.

"Well then, who is this new war god?" Felson asked.

"Him." Lowell said, pointing off in the distance.

The Carbide Tempest troopers stopped dead in their tracks, completely rendered speechless by what they saw.

Lumbering at a steady but markedly pained rate was the battle walker Phlegyas. Clearly, the machine had taken the brunt of the fighting. Scorch marks, dents and bullet holes practically riddled the weapon the war. The top part of its hulled looked like it had even sustained a blast from a mini-nuke.

A gaping hole slowly spewing smoke seemed to suggest this.

"Hurry, lets get him home." Lowell ordered.

* * *

Suda woke up and suspiciously glanced around. True to their word, the Regulators had kept their distance the whole night. Even more astonishing was that Joseph was already up and sitting on one of the broken logs they pulled up by the fire as a makeshift seat. Next to the Native American was Furious, still sleeping and curled up into a ball. Joseph was carefully, if steadily, plucking out individual barbs from the sleeping Spike Dog.

Isaac stirred from his sleep and let out a yawn. Squinting against the early morning light, he could not help but notice Joseph carefully and discreetly yank a final barb from the spike dog while it still slept.

"What are you doing?" Isaac muttered groggily.

"Think I could use these for my arrows, or darts or something." Joseph murmured, putting the barbs away in a bag.

Waking with a big stretch and equally hearty yawn, David rose from his spot only to sit back on the broken log and pulled out a book. He immediately started reading from it as Joseph fanned new life into the once dying embers of the fire.

Suda marched up to them, already carrying her bags with her assault rifle at the ready.

"When are we going?" Suda asked.

"Uh, we're not going." Isaac replied.

"What do you mean you're not going? Didn't the three of you say that you were trying to get to DC? This is no where near DC." Suda snapped.

"Yes, but it's the Sabbath, and therefore, little to any walking for me. Might as well take the break cause I'm not going anywhere, and neither are they." David replied, not even taking his eyes of the book.

"Wait, what?" Suda barked.

It took a few anxious and tense moments of the men explaining to Suda the meaning of the Sabbath and why David observed it and why that meant they weren't going anywhere. Throughout the whole time Joseph tried to play apathetic though slightly annoyed. Isaac was the most active though he ended up being rather tense over the whole ordeal and only David and the still sleeping Furious remained placid at all. Suda was obviously miffed about the whole thing but finally sat down with a pout.

"Of all the idiot Regulators I get mixed up with, it has to be you clowns." Suda grumbled.

"Are you always in a bad mood?" Isaac retorted, finally coming to the end of his patience.

"Excuse me?" Suda demanded.

"Well you haven't exactly been a ray of sunshine since we dropped in on you." Isaac grumbled.

"Well too bad, it's not like I have to please any of you!" Suda snapped.

"Well, you don't exactly have to stay with us either if you don't care for the company!" Isaac growled back.

Suda let out an unhappy sigh.

"Trust me, I would have except this place is practically a merc war zone. Safety in numbers." Suda begrudgingly admitted.

"Well, looks like you'll just have to put up with us then." Joseph murmured. He was just about to try and snatch a final spike from Furious but the spike dog suddenly roused from his sleep, uncurling from a ball and then glanced up at Joseph. The prickly creature gave him a suspicious glare before waddling out of reach of the Regulator.

"Fine, how long do we have to observe this 'Sabbath?'" Suda asked in exasperation.

"All day." David replied, still reading his book.

"_All day_?" Suda screeched.

"Yep, unless you want to start walking in the dark after sundown but we kind of figure by that time it's easier to just wait till the next morning." David answered.

"We're just going to _sit_ here all day?" Suda demanded, clearly not liking the idea.

"You could follow Joseph and Isaac. They generally do some foraging later." David shrugged.

"Great…" Suda grumbled.

"Sure, you can join us so long as you're not too cranky. But first, breakfast." Isaac announced, opening up a can of Pork n Beans. He snickered a bit at the memory of Rat who absolutely loved this particular canned food.

* * *

It was about at that moment that a mildly chaotic scene was playing out at the Albany firearms factory where the Excelsior rifles were manufactured. Most of the workers were trying not to stare while the veterans understood that it was a regular event and very over-dramatized.

The oversized rat and the robot were bickering.

"Squeak! Squeak!" Rat barked at Asimov.

"Oh shut it, you vermin!" Asimov snapped back.

"Squeak!"

"Fleabag!"

"Squeak!"

"Rodent!"

"Squeak!"

"Well, I've run out of insults." Asimov suddenly announced very calmly.

"Squeak." Rat let out, also placidly.

And then the two simply walked away from each other and went about their regular business.

No one decided to try and figure out what had transpired.

Elsewhere, Sven was watching Sarah shuffle around energetically in what he still considered his workshop. Granted, he now shared it with her but he just could not understand all of her equipment and gadgets. A part of Sven saw all of her stuff and all the room it was taking up. To him, it felt like a waste of space that he could be using for his own projects.

He didn't hold it against her but it was still odd to him.

"What are you doing?" Sven finally asked, locking in an arming mechanism to a mine without even looking at it.

"Well, your Regulator friends managed to get most of our equipment and supplies from our vault down here. So, with my supplies back, it's now my job to try and make the most of our mildly irradiated situation." Sarah replied, hooking several devices together.

"And how will you do that?" Sven asked.

"Well, I want to first start with trying to get some foods to grow, bring back some nice little things. I'd like to start with plants but I think I have a project that will be easier to produce out here." Sarah answered.

"Bombs?" Sven inquired.

"No, silly, not bombs. I'm thinking a kind of food." Sarah snickered, though it was hard to tell if it was out of pity or nervousness.

"What kind of food?" Sven asked curiously, turning to her suddenly. A short wheeze into his mask suggested he was interested.

"You'll find out." Sarah answered slyly, clearly enjoying the idea of surprising the others.

* * *

Carl and Poseidon both stood within the cabin of the _Hammer._ Along the river banks, the two rivermen could watch the numerous moving dots of the pack brahmin and traders. Other than the imposing shape of the _Hammer_, two smaller patrol boats also joined the river escort. The most imposing weapon the two patrol boats had were heavy machine guns but they were still something for attackers to think about. Regardless, on their own they were not much of a deterrent.

The _Hammer_ was packing three large gun turrets and numerous gun emplacements, anti-aircraft weaponry that had been converted to also fire on ground and river threats. The long range missile pods were useless considering the present global circumstances so they were simply ignored or put to storage purposes. It certainly left a lot of spare missiles to be used by the shoulder held missile launchers they had in the armory.

"I've ordered shore parties posted by the railings and the boats ready to go at a moment's notice. They'll be ready to assist either shore should any of the caravans get attacked." Poseidon notified Carl.

"Good." Carl nodded, watching the river again.

"Anything else I should have the crew do, captain?" Poseidon asked.

"No, that'll be fine, Poseidon. Honestly, I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm sure even I would know not to attack a caravan of this many people with three boats on the river covering them. Especially a ship with the size of our guns." Carl said frankly to his second in command.

It took a moment for Poseidon to answer.

"Captain, you might not have attacked it but it appears there may be idiots even more dull than you."

The ghoul pointed a ruined finger towards the starboard side of the ship, the right side where they could see a group of people firing into the caravan. Immediately, the forward patrol boat powered up, cutting an intense white wake as it tried to close the gap between itself and the group of marauders. Carl and Poseidon could not make heads or tails of the attackers just yet from the distance.

"Have the forward guns fire into those idiots. Try to clear out a few of them but have them cut fire if they get too close to the caravans. We don't want any friendly fire. I'll be joining the shore parties." Carl announced, leaving the cabin to step into the nearest boat already loaded with some of his ship's designated marines and a few duster clad shipboard Regulators.

"Bring us down, boatswain." Carl ordered the sailor at the riggings as he powered up his gatling laser.

Within moments the boat was in the river, the oarsmen furiously paddling to reinforce their comrades on the shore. Chaos was already overtaking the scene. Panicked Brahmin were either stopping dead on their hooves or turning around to rush away from the thick of the fight while furious Regulators, guards and irate merchants fired at their attackers.

Overhead, a thunderous roar split the air as the _Hammer_ fired one of its turret guns. It immediately blasted a crater by the river side, landing within the midst of the charging marauders. A good many of them simply ceased to exist from that single round.

By the time Carl stepped on the shore, the forward patrol boat was already firing volleys of rapid gunfire into the attackers. Sloshing in the water, Carl squinted his eyes as his boat unloaded with the rest of the shore party. His men were already shouldering their weapons.

The attackers, realizing they had gotten way over their heads, were starting to retreat. Some were even disappearing behind the rise of the hill that they had come from.

"Don't let them get away, follow them!" Carl shouted over the noise, firing off a few streams of laser blasts before joining in with the rest of his men charging up the hill. The giant felt himself rapidly falling towards the back of the shore party. Between the weight of his metal armor, his equipment and the fact that he still had not gotten used to running with a metallic prosthetic leg, he knew it was inevitable.

Passing a body, he could not help but notice the telltale garb of the wasteland raiders.

A small voice within him whispered that something was wrong.

By the time the men got to the rise of the hill, they could see that the distant figures of the raiders were too far away for their weapons to fire on effectively. Sure, a few of the men took potshots which were really more spiteful Parthinian shots than anything else.

"Should we keep pursuing, captain?" one of the men asked.

"No. Stay here and keep watch. Make sure they don't get any ideas of launching a counter attack. Keep me posted. I'll have a runner come up here and tell you when you're dismissed." Carl replied as began to stroll down the hill.

When Carl made it to the foot of the hill, he could see the figure of Poseidon overseeing the men around him. Apparently, the merchants had decided that some of the merchandise would have to be transferred to the _Hammer_ at least for the duration of the journey due to the Brahmin they had lost. In typical wasteland haste, men were already furiously stripping off anything of value they could find from the fallen, allies and enemies alike.

"Raiders. Think they were from the Western Coalition?" Poseidon asked, arms folded in front of him as he gazed down at the body of a fallen raider.

"It would be hard to find out. Raiders of the Western Coalition are hard to distinguish from regular raiders in the waste. The only difference is that raiders from the WC have some rules and they answer to a warlord that they are fiercely loyal to. Regular raiders do not." Carl explained.

"Well, that was certainly a large group of raiders. I'd say it was indeed the WC, even if I can't prove it." Poseidon murmured.

Carl furrowed his brows in thought.

"Poseidon, again, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I can't help but notice that for all this talk of the Western Coalition…we're on the _Eastern_ shore of the river."

Ironically, the Hierarchy side of the river.

* * *

James left the rifle factory, once again leaving Asimov in charge of the production. He was silently glad that the Robobrain could not only manage it in his absence but that the workers still gave the machine the respect they would have given him. He started to wonder what dinner would be as he rested his hands in the pockets of his duster. Letting his eyes fall to the ground, he idly kicked a pebble a couple feet down the street. Growing bored with the game, he once again looked up to gaze at the sights before him.

He was immediately alarmed when he spotted Julia rushing up to him.

"James, Eleanor has been calling on the radio. You have to get Sven. They've spotted what they believe is an outbreak up north. She's coming back to pick you two up and will be arriving shortly." Julia announced, trying to catch her breath.

"Ok, I'll get Sven and warn him. Could you please go back to the house and get my stuff together?" James asked.

Julia nodded before hurrying back to their residence as James took off to get a hold of their local pyromaniac.

A few minutes later, Sven and James were far from Albany and in the air. However, instead of flanked by Lab 18 soldiers, they were in a helicopter full of Lab 18 scientists and Eleanor Morgan.

"What makes you think it was an outbreak?" James asked over the sound of the rotors.

"We passed what looked to be a caravan on the ground. The problem was that no one was moving. They were all simply lying there." Eleanor replied apologetically.

* * *

Since Suda had warned them that the area had become a warzone for several competing mercenary companies, they decided they had to split up and no one could go alone. This immediately caused several problems.

One, Suda hated the idea of being alone with any one of them. Two, Joseph hated the idea of not being able to forage but that led to three, where he also rued the idea of having to go with Suda.

At that point, it was decided that Isaac would go out foraging with Suda who would have to suck up the idea. In the end, she decided that if it came down to it, she was confident that she could easily blow Isaac's head off if he tried to do anything stupid. Joseph made do with the idea that after half the day passed, Isaac and Suda would return to keep David company. Joseph was insistent that he would be safe going off by himself and promised that he would only be gone for a short while after Isaac and Suda returned. He was insistent that the hunters of the nation were well versed in stealth and blending into their surroundings, a skill the mercenaries had no hope of attaining.

In the end, that meant most everyone was not comfortable with the arrangement, except for maybe David and Furious who simply did not care, but it would have to do.

"So tell me about yourself, Suda." Isaac said as they walked through the countryside. Every now and then they would see the broken hulls of trees and the area appeared just as dusty and rocky as any other place they saw. It did not appear that they would be a lot to find.

"Why?" Suda asked, sounding as if it were an intrusive question.

Isaac nearly stopped dead in his tracks. He was not used to running into so many walls from an individual.

"Well, it certainly helps with conversation." Isaac replied, shrugging as best as he could while still cradling his Chinese assault rifle.

"And what is your constant need for conversation?" Suda inquired, still sounding belligerent of the whole idea.

"Because it is something _people_ do. They talk. And to be honest, I'm kind of curious as to why you're trying to hide in the shell that you're putting up."

"What is it to you?"

"Well, my dad used to tell me that when people have a habit of hurting others or pushing others away, it's most likely because deep down, they've been hurt too. You practically radiate it." Isaac replied bluntly.

Suda stared at him hard and did not answer.  
"The silence is deafening." Isaac finally said.

"I'm not talking to you." Suda finally muttered and kept marching on.

* * *

"I've been wondering. What did you call this virus again?" James asked Eleanor as the helicopter continued to thunder further north.

"Virus 8191 is the official designation." Eleanor replied.

"Why was it developed in the first place?" James asked. No one could tell how Sven was reacting next to James since, as usual, Sven had his mask on. Silently, he was contemplating ways on how to produce a firebomb.

"Honestly, the original intent was to design a virus specifically to destroy the Forced Evolutionary Virus that creates super mutants. It was suppose to be a specific and effective selective weapon against them." Eleanor explained.

"Looks like it misfired." James answered.

"That's why you should use actual fire." Sven interjected.

"Yes, the virus is extremely devastating to people. That was not the intent. However, have you ever seen a super mutant afflicted with the disease?" Eleanor inquired.

"No. Come to think of it, I haven't." James said thoughtfully.

Sven shook his head, also indicating that he had never seen it.

"That's because as bad as it is in human, its much more worse for super mutants. It takes hours at least, if not days, for Virus 8191 to kill a person. A super mutant is literally liquidated in a matter of minutes when first being exposed to the virus." Eleanor informed.

"Well, if only we could find a way to get this virus to better behave then." James muttered.

"Yeah well, I did shut down the bio-weapons wing of our research. We're not looking into it anymore." Eleanor said quietly.

"We've found the site again, we'll be landing shortly." The pilot announced from the cockpit.

"Thank you. Okay, listen up. James, Sven, you two and I will remain here in the helicopter. The scientists with the suits on will investigate first and make sure the virus is no longer active with their equipment. After that, provided everything is safe, I'll let you two dispose of the bodies…provided this is Virus 8191." Eleanor instructed.

"Sounds good." James replied.

"So long as I get to burn something." Sven said through his mask.

Upon touching down, James, Sven and Eleanor remained still as the scientists left their places to inspect the scene. James squinted, trying to take in the grisly sight. He could see what appeared to be a small caravan team dead on the ground, even the Brahmin were not spared from the disease. What especially appeared out of place was a group of men who did not seem to belong to the merchants. There was something about their clothing that seemed…different. Alas, between the mess of rotting bodies, foul disease and the harshness of the wastes, it was hard to get straight evidence.

"They're radioing to me that they have a positive that it was 8191." Eleanor informed the men.

"Then its begun…" James murmured, chills running down his spine. Would this scene start to become familiar again out in the wastes? How many more curious wastelanders passed through here before they could? Were there any others who had been exposed to this virus before they got here?

"Okay, so long as you keep a healthy distance from the bodies, the chances of transmission should be minimal. You two are clear to go." Eleanor said, scattering James' thoughts.

"Very well. Sven, you know what to do, yes?" James asked his comrade.

"All too well." Sven replied.

Both Liberators stepped from the helicopter and into the sands. James was torn between wanting to gather more clues about what happened and simply wanting the whole abomination to be put to the flames. Sven was more or less numb. The full implications of the biological danger they were in was lost to him. He decided a long time ago to let James worry about that. As long as he had the all clear to set the carcasses to the flame then he darn well was going to-

Just before he could squeeze the trigger something stopped them.

"Hold it!" a harsh voice shouted.

James and Sven glanced over to see what appeared to be three raiders several yards away. They already had their weapons shouldered and pointed at them. James and Sven immediately did not like their situation.

"Well, look at this. We got those smart people and two Regulators together over a pile of dead bodies of what looks to be diseased people." One of the raiders sneered.

"That doesn't look good. Looks very strange indeed. We should report this to the Warlord." The other raider added.

"But look at the Regulators…the little marking on the sleeve. That doesn't look like something most Regulators wear." The first noticed.

"H-hey, I betcha they're two of the Liberators." The second suggested.

"Well…then we really better report this to the Warlord." The first said darkly.

"…If you're going to do that, then I suggest you take me along. I'd like to explain to the Warlord myself of these actions." James called out suddenly. Sven cast him an uncertain glance from behind his gas mask.

"Urk, I'm coming too." Sven rapidly added.

"Oh? And why should we bring you to the Warlord?" the first demanded.

"Because I invoke the right to appeal to the Warlord." James said confidently.

"Invo- right to who?" the first sputtered, not used to hearing such words

"He said appeal to the Warlord. He wants to speak to the Warlord. Now we have to allow him to go with us." The second explained.

"Alright, but I want your hands on your heads first." The first raider growled.

"Didn't even get to burn something yet." Sven grumbled, placing his hands on his head.


	17. Chapter 17

"_Time is the most precious gift in our possession, for it is the most irrevocable."_

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

* * *

Elder Hail's brows furrowed in worry. His office was silent and his desk seemed like some kind of heavy, stone slab that either threatened to pull him down or be some kind of last desperate anchor to hold onto before the storm hit.

Reports were coming in that the Neo Human Effort, the super mutants, were being pushed back. Their numbers were dwindling. The scribes even assured him that the Phlegyas battle walker would be good to go in a couple days and they expected their repairs to make it good as new.

That was not the reason he was worried.

The Enclave was still around.

What if the Neo Human Effort simply ceased to exist? That meant their previous enemies now had access to their communication frequencies, had seen the layout and defenses of their bases and had an idea on their patrol routes. Could they just assume that the Enclave would just go about how they did before when this conflict was over? Nothing will be the same once the dust settles after this. The question that was bothering him was whether or not it would change for the better or for the worst.

And what would the consequences be if they were for the worst?

* * *

There was a bit of a problem as far as getting to Warlord Yeohart went.

"Hey look, I'm letting you drag me and everyone else off when we really should be getting rid of these bodies-"

"Yeah sure, probably giving them the disease instead, making the bodies." The lead raider spat skeptically, interrupting James.

"Clearly I'm not going to convince you and that's not the point. You can take me, my comrade and all of us back to your warlord, but lets take the helicopter. It'll be quicker and I've got a time schedule to keep." James replied calmly, ignoring the surprise glances he got from those around him. Even Sven's mask jerked slightly when he glanced in James' direction.

"Ha, and have you fly off wherever you wanted to? Away from our warlord and take us with you? You take me for a fool?" the raider demanded, sounding insulted.

"You can take me at gunpoint and I'll make sure the pilot follows your direction. You can even shoot me the moment he goes off course and stops listening to you. Imagine that, you striking down a Liberator. I give you my word. Besides, it'll be quicker than walking for days." James negotiated.

The raiders hesitated a moment. James was thinking about saving time, not only to allow them to stamp out settlements that might get hit with the plague, but also to get back to Julia and others quickly so they wouldn't worry. The raiders meanwhile felt they were in an uncomfortable juxtaposition. They were convinced the two men before them were part of the renowned Liberators and they too wanted to get back to the warlord quickly. However, they've never been in a flying machine before and it was the big unknown of both the machine and the integrity of the negotiator that they were worried about.

"Alright." the raiders conceded quietly.

A few moment moments later and they were up in the air, the pilot nervously following directions while Eleanor found herself squashed between James' mechanical left arm and Sven's fuel tank. It didn't help that in front of her two raiders were holding them at gunpoint, more so James but the firearms were still pointed in her general direction.

* * *

For Isaac, Joseph, David, Suda and Furious, things had just gotten interesting. It all started with Joseph, ever in the lead, noticed something out of the ordinary on the landscape. It was an anomaly within the side of a hill that caught his attention. Eventually, the whole group was slowly approaching the strange sight.

"It's a door." Isaac observed.

"Thank you, captain obvious." David jibbed.

"Well, now that we've identified it, we're just going to stare at it?" Suda grumbled.

Furious walked up to it and placed his two front paws on the steel, sniffing the door.

"It looks locked up but the steel is badly corroded. Too bad too. Locked doors usually hold secrets." Joseph muttered, also placing a hand on the steel.

David started rummaging through his backpack.

"This might help." David announced and yanked a crowbar from his satchel.

"…Crude…lacking in any elegance and yet somehow it looks like it might be effective." Isaac murmured, his eyes never once leaving the iron bar.

"Yeah, screw lock picking and hacking. If the lock is weak and corroded enough or if the container is mostly wood, this'll cut through it faster than you'd expect." David snickered.

He immediately got to tearing and prying at the corroded metal until, after much exertion and a layer of sweat shone on his face, he was able to expose the locking mechanisms within the door itself. From there, it was just a matter of jamming the crowbar into the proper nook and pushing the interlocking gears aside so that the locking bar swung back. It probably took more physical work than picking a lock but it gave immediate results. The group forcefully swung the doors open with a bang, revealing a passageway.

"Heh…heh…and that's how you open a lock." David panted with a broad grin.

"Now just hope nothing or no one heard you." Joseph grumbled.

"Well now, what secrets might lie in this place?" Isaac asked rhetorically, shining a small flashlight into the darkness, revealing a small set of stairs that led downward.

Furious sniffed the musty air curiously.

* * *

Landing a helicopter within Western Coalition held lands is considerably more complex than landing an Enclave vertibird within a Brotherhood base. The outermost rings of the Western Coalition did not have radios so there was no way to warn them of their approach. They could only pray that this first defensive ring wouldn't take potshots at them. After dodging some automatic fire and one badly aimed missile, the raiders onboard were finally able to contact someone on the ground that had a functioning radio deeper within the raider territory.

They were instructed to land some distance away from the warlord's camp and walk the rest of the distance there. Eventually, the pilot, scientists, Eleanor, Sven and James spotted the single authoritative looking figure within the WC camp. They figured it was the man called Warlord Yeohart. As the group was marched along, they could still feel the raiders holding them at gunpoint.

Yeohart, squinting, recognized the distinctive marking on the Regulators' sleeves.

"Soldiers! Do not treat our guests harshly! Put those guns down!" Yeohart barked when he noticed the raiders still keeping their weapons trained on them. The raiders immediately complied. James wondered if it was more out of fear than anything else.

"Ah, so I now meet the other two famous Liberators. You must be...the marksman judging by the rifle on your back...the other is definitely the pyromaniac from the stories." Yeohart observed with a calculating eye.

"You got it." Sven replied, almost cheerfully.

"And who are these others?" Yeohart asked curiously, motioning towards Eleanor and her staff.

"We're from Lab 18." Eleanor replied, doing a good job of remaining calm though her countenance suggested she was still uncomfortable.

"Lab 18...Lab 18...the rumors say that you dropped a very nasty disease on New York two decades back. And if I remember correctly, the Regulators and Liberators fought against you. Tell me then, how I am to understand this picture?" Yeohart asked, motioning to the fact that they were altogether.

"We found them over the dead bodies of a caravan. The bodies looked like they had died of a disease." one of the raiders butted in.

Yeohart glared at them, scolding them for bad manners but realized the information was disturbing.

"What does the famous Liberators say about this?" Yeohart asked.

"Your soldier speaks the truth. We were at the caravan sight. The Lab 18 scientists were confirming that the caravan had died from the same virus that they had developed 20 years ago. However, they did not unleash it this time. Someone stole it from their labs and it looks like they set it out on the population." James explained.

"Am I to believe this? Are you being honest with me, Liberator?" Yeohart asked, still keeping a regal composure.

"Yes sir. Lab 18, a section of the Commonwealth, and the cities of Albany and New York have put aside their differences. We depend on them for the caravan trade and they depend on us for the same thing. Dr. Eleanor Morgan can tell you that they shut down their bio-weapons program so they're no longer developing new viruses. They are not responsible for this new outbreak. We were there to dispose of the bodies and prevent further infection." James explained, praying that Yeohart would buy the explanation.

Yeohart stroked the light beard on his chin before nodding.

"This would explain why the pyromaniac was along for the ride? Disposal by fire?" Yeohart offered.

"You mean disposal by awesome." Sven interjected.

Everyone, including the warlord, cast him a momentary disturbed glance.

"What?" Sven demanded.

"Still, if what you tell me is true, my raiders are already sending reports that infections are breaking out along the northern areas. We're withdrawing where we can, quarantining who we can. However, it appears the virus is a death warrant." Yeohart said darkly.

"A...a treatment of a stimpack IV line can give them a fighting chance." James said quietly.

"A what?" Yeohart demanded.

"You take an empty blood packet and elevate it after inserting it into a vein. Then you empty several stimpack syringes into the packet. It helps treat the symptoms and gives them a fighting chance. It doesn't guarantee survival but...I mean...my wife survived under that treatment." James admitted. He figured at this point he might as well buy more points to get on Yeohart's good side.

"I will remember this, Liberator, and tell my physicians. Now then, if what you say is true, I can only assume that now you will be willing to help us in the fight against the Hierarchy." Yeohart smiled cunningly.

"Wait, what? I don't see how this resurgence of the plague is reason to fight the Hierarchy. If anything the fight should stop. All these armies marching around each other only aggravates the situation and heightens the chance of further transmission." James explained.

"Ah, but did not Lab 18 admit the virus was stolen? Who stole it." Yeohart asked, now staring at Eleanor.

"We...we don't know. They didn't tell us their names. They weren't dressed like raiders but they showed no allegiance to anyone either." Eleanor replied.

"And that is a classic trick of the Hierarchy. They'll dress like others, cloak and dagger, that's the right phrase, yes? Anyway, we've even known them to dress like raiders so that we get blamed for it." Yeohart explained, his face turning dark.

"Shoot..." James muttered under his breath.

* * *

After wandering deeper within the bunker they found, they discovered that some of the ancient lighting was still running, an ancient power source continuing in its programmed routine. It was not completely unusual to find this with some of the pre-war ruins but it was still eerie.

Their unease quickly died away when they started finding boxes of ammunition piled neatly along the walls.

"Haha, I wonder what kind of place this way that they have so much of this loot." David cackled, taking his fill of assault rifle ammunition. Suda snatched a few alongside him before looking for shotgun shells.

"Probably an old military facility or supply depot." Isaac suggested, looking for the particular ammunition he needed. Furious meanwhile was sniffing around for snacks but his nose wasn't ringing anything interesting.

Joseph, meanwhile, was not finding anything interesting. His people from the Nation had done their best to step away from technology. His fellow hunters looked down on firearms and used arrows whenever possible. Yes, some carried rifles, automatic ones even, due to whatever circumstances they might have been in. Still, every hunter aspired to one day be proficient enough to confidently handle a bow in place of a firearm.

Still, there was no harm in picking up a couple handfuls of rounds for his 44. revolver.

And quite suddenly, they heard footsteps coming in from behind them.

"Shh, quiet." Isaac shushed, listening hard.

"Someone clearly blasted that door open. This was no subtle lockpick job." one of the approaching strangers said.

"Well, if they're still down here, shoot em all." a second replied.

"Guess that answers what are option is. Fight back." David murmured.

"Head deeper into the facility. We can probably set up an ambush. Hurry." Joseph hissed, hurrying the others past him.

* * *

In the end, James and Sven never got to properly torch what was assumed to be the starting point of the New York Plague's reintroduction. Instead, as soon as James managed to convince Yeohart that they simply could not go ahead and start shooting until they had solid evidence themselves, they were rocketing back to Albany on board the helicopter. Lab 18 would have to shoulder the initial burden of trying to immolate the plague sites. The Liberators were going to have to warn the surrounding settlements about the plague to come and how to protect themselves.

James was not looking forward on thinking about influx of refugees that might develop.

"Guys, I'm really sorry about all of this. I should never have let those men in." Eleanor apologized again, a guilty conscience once again eating at her.

"Eleanor, don't blame yourself. Right now, lets just focus on containing this mess." James said, albeit distractedly.

He wanted to be more sincere but he was in his own world of worries at the moment. If numerous people started converging south to Albany and New York City like they did the last time the virus hit, especially using the now bustling water highway known as the Hudson, then a logistical nightmare would develop. It would be a nightmare not so much in that the transportation would not be able to handle it but because the possibility of untold number of people getting infected unwittingly through people whose symptoms had not triggered yet mingling together.

There was no way they would be able to fully control Albany's safety.

"We will be living with madness..." James muttered worriedly.

"Welcome to my world." Sven replied.

* * *

Things went down hill. Badly.

It started when Joseph and Isaac waited on opposite ends of the hallway, Joseph with his tomahawk ready, Isaac with his palm blade machete. The idea was to dispatch the first two that came along and then Suda and David would finish the rest off with their firearm. In reality, immediately after Joseph brained the first guy while Isaac ran the other one through, Suda and David jumped out and threw lead into the others down the hall.

Isaac immediately knew something was wrong judging from the look of shock on David's face.

"Guys, get back! We're outnumbered! Get behind us!" David shouted.

"Move it!" Suda yelled, spitting out two blasts from her shotgun.

Isaac threw a grenade down the hallway without looking but it was Joseph who got a glance at just how outnumbered they really were. It appeared that a whole mercenary company had decided to come down and set up shop.

"Keep falling back, we'll cover you!" Isaac shouted, turning around to lay down fire with his Chinese assault rifle. Joseph snatched up an assault rifle on the wall and followed Isaac's example.

"We need a better plan!" Suda warned over the first, falling behind Isaac.

"Follow Furious, these halls go down deeper." David instructed, now turning around to cover Isaac and Joseph.

"And what makes you so sure there's an exit down here?" Suda screeched.

"Just shut up and go!" David snapped back, wanting to ignore Suda's very valid point.

It may have felt like an eternity, bullets starting to ricochet in the cramped quarters, promising to turn the place into an underground blender if either side got carried away. They started to figure out that even their own bullets could come back to bite them. However, the Regulators were led by their spike dog to what appeared to be the end of the line.

Suda cursed.

"We got another locked door and it looks too sturdy to blast through!" Suda screamed, turning around to fire her shotgun angrily into the crowd.

"Wait a minute, wait minute! I think I know what might be behind this door..." Isaac said, immediately starting to work with the computer terminal.

"You're going to have to hurry up, we'll be mincemeat before long." David warned, also firing back into the crowd.

Furious scampered into the corner and rolled up into a frightened ball.

"We're going to need more firepower!" David shouted. Joseph suddenly spotted a crate by him in the dim light.

"Will this help?" Joseph offered, cutting open the box with his tomahawk to reveal a large mini-gun.

"Ay yes!" David cheered, setting up the massive machine gun.

"Need help, here!" Suda shouted, seeing one too many lighted bullets fly by her head.

"Help has arrived!" David announced before getting drowned out in a roar of fire and flashing flames from the minigun.

For a brief moment, no one was sure what was going on as David laid down a torrent of fire in the enclosed space. Suda and Joseph fired back and they were certain they felt bullets whizzing by them but in the noise and lighting, they could not even hear themselves think.

And then, right in front of them, a grenade went off. The blast immediately sent the three of them back. Even Furious shrieked in fright from the explosion.

"We're...we're not dead?" David asked.

"Fire back, you idiots!" Suda shouted, trying to fire coherently with her shotgun. She only got two rounds off before she realized that she had to reload.

"We're Isaac?" Joseph demanded, realizing this whole time that Isaac was not with them.

"We need to shoot back!" Suda persisted, starting to hear bullets flying around them again.

"The minigun is jammed!" David cried.

"Shoot back!" Suda screamed desperately.

And then they heard something heavy step in their midst.

They all looked up to see someone encased in a heavy and pristine looking T-51b power armor.

"I-Isaac?" Suda sputtered in disbelief.

The lights on the armor's helmet lit up, illuminating their shocked assailants witin the hall. Isaac, confidently enclosed within the armor, smiled. He immediately started to boldly step forward, his own assault rifle taking aimed bursts at point blank. He could even learn to ignore the rounds bouncing off of his own armor.

Isaac simply walked into the storm and made it die out.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" David laughed.

"He could have gotten that suit out a lot sooner..." Suda grumbled.

Furious uncurled himself and chirped.

* * *

Back outside, the group a little jarred but otherwise unharmed, continued on their way towards DC. Furious was happily shuffling alongside Joseph while the others fell in place behind him.

"Well, at least we got a lot of extra ammo out of that and a few supplies from the mercs." David said.

"You forgot to pick up a new assault rifle back there. They were in perfection condition, unused." Suda reminded him with a smirk.

"Nah, this here rifle has gotten me out of plenty of hard spots. I prefer its reliability than to take a shot with a new rifle." David replied.

"Too bad we couldn't take that minigun with us. It was blasted beyond repair." Isaac added.

"Too bad? I still can't believe you locked that armor back up in the vault. Why didn't you take it with you?" David demanded.

"Trust me, the ventilation systems are not the best, your vision is obscured, your mobility lessened and they're really not meant for long distance, cross country travel. If the radioactive battery goes out I'll become a giant paperweight." Isaac explained.

"Oh come on, what's the likelihood of that happening? Besides, all you'd need to do is just walk into a fight and not get hurt. It would be awesome!" David said.

"The armor can only take so much and repair it would be a bit difficult out here." Isaac pointed out.

"I still think you should have taken it with you." David replied, shaking his head.

"...Dude, those things are a pain in the neck to get out of, especially when you have to go to the bathroom." Isaac muttered.


	18. Chapter 18

_"Insanity is a sane response to a to an insane situation."_

-Ronald David Laing

* * *

Sarah stood over her experiment, anticipating that the final product would be completed in just a few minutes. Julia cast a few nervous glances at their surroundings. After all, it was hard to forget that Sarah's laboratory was still deep within Sven's explosives workshop.

A final guest to the experiment was Rat, who had been spending his spare time hanging out with Sarah.

"Well, you've been collecting Brahmin milk and I have no clue what you've been doing with it. What is this all about?" Julia asked the younger scientist curiously.

"One moment." Sarah replied, reaching into a tank before pulling out a peculiar, yellowish solid chunk.

Sarah broke off a piece of it and offered it to Julia.

"W-what am I suppose to do with it?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Try it!" Sarah encouraged, beaming excitedly.

With complete skepticism, or confusion, written on her face, Julia nonetheless placed the solid into her mouth and slowly chewed it. Her countenance slowly changed as she let her taste buds analyze it.

"This...this isn't bad." Julia admitted.

"It's cheese." Sarah explained, trying some herself. She immediately made a face.

"Ugh, Brahmin milk isn't as good as regular dairy milk." Sarah groaned.

"No no, it's good. We should find a way to mass produce it." Julia said.

Rat was clearly curious of the new edible, waving his paws and trying to get a sniff of it.

"Here, help yourself." Sarah offered, placing the cheese chunk in front of the oversized rodent. Rat immediately grasped it with his two front paws and took a bite. It was only one bite but Rat noticeably paused after chewing only once.

The scribe and scientist could not have known it but under the rodent's fur, a single tear crept down from Rat's eye.

It was the single most glorious thing he ever tasted. In fact, while the two women discussed ideas on how to facilitate the production of the food product, Rat was lost in his own personal nirvana. In fact, Rat was so lost in his new found Elysium that he had not noticed that he already finished the cheese piece.

"Well, first we'd have to show the others this then I suppose some of the Brahmin owners wouldn't mind contributing a portion of the milk, perhaps for a percentage of the caps made from sales." Julia speculated.

"I guess that would work." Sarah agreed, nodding her head.

They looked over to see Rat determinedly scratching at the tank lid, apparently trying to figure out how to get inside.

"Well, I guess he likes it." Sarah giggled.

Rat would have considered that a monumental understatement.

* * *

It had been a grueling process but the Boys had finally decided it was time to put the vault security team to the next phase of their training. This involved live fire under circumstances that could not be guaranteed to be under control at all times.

It was time to introduce the men to super mutants.

The group of vault security men were huddled, along with a crouching Anthony, behind a large rock. Gerald's relentless minigun was providing the bulk of all the noise in the background, interrupted every now and then by an angered roar from a super mutant.

"Now just remember, super mutants are mean, nasty and they got a lot of muscle and flesh on them so they will not necessarily go down easily. Some may even be carrying missile launchers so you want to approach them with caution. On the flip side, they're not the brightest things ever to disgrace this earth." Anthony nonchalantly explained, all the while some of the more nervous vaulties simply stared at Gerald, still determinedly in the middle of the fight.

"Ambush is the best way to deal with them. Get the jump on them before they get the jump on you." Anthony continued.

They heard several muffled shots from Otto's Excelsior rifle quickly followed by mutant groans.

"But if they get the jump on you, remember that you're more agile than them, try to weave through tight places. Always aim for the head too. They might be huge but a bullet in the head drops them all the same." Anthony elaborated.

Some of the vaulties had simply turned pale.

Others jumped when they heard Juan's flamer scream, drowning out the cries of agony from the mutants caught in the fire.

"But remember, never underestimate them. They might be stupid but every now and then they sometimes surprise you." Anthony finished. As if on cue, his eyes widened as he stared past the vaulties and quickly drew out a heavy dagger before throwing it faster than the eye could follow.

The vaulties looked behind themselves to find a super mutant trying to dig the dagger out of his face before simply collapsing on the ground.

Petrified, the vaulties turned back again to face Anthony. Otto, Gerald and Juan were also starting to gather with them, faint wisps of smoke rising from the otherwise unfazed Juan.

"So, your first super mutant raid. Not so bad, huh?" Anthony smiled at the still shell shocked security team.

* * *

Back at Albany, the Liberators were having a serious discussion in what had become the town square. Although the matters they were discussing were of grave concern, they decided the public environment did not matter that much. The general population would be finding out soon anyway. At any rate, Alexandra was quietly sitting in the background, listening in while Adam, Carl, Sven, James and Julia tried to figure out what their course of action would be. Poseidon was also standing next to her.

"We had a large raider hit on the caravan earlier. It was practically the size of a small army. They managed to inflict some damage but we turned them back with our big guns. Still, those caravan merchants are going to have major problems if there are still large armies like that out there as they go north beyond the river." Carl informed.

"They got more than armies to worry about now. There's been at least several outbreaks of the virus. The Western Coalition are getting the brunt of it, at least that's what Warlord Yeohart tells me. That, and he claims that the Hierarchy dress some of their soldiers as raiders so they get confused for WC raiders. Shift the blame on them." James added.

"Well before you boys go charging into politics, perhaps we should figure out how to address the possibility of infected getting to Albany? Last time the plague happened everyone surged south. We'll be the first city they'll go looking for refuge in. Carl, your ships will probably be used to. We better start preparing. There will be no city to protect if we're all dropping dead from plague." Julia cautioned with a sigh.

"Right, interview refugees when we can. Otherwise, lets start designating quarantine areas. People will have to wait in those areas outside the city for a couple days, maybe a week, before they can enter the city." James suggested.

"Alright, we can have the vault security team handle that. It sounds like something up their alley." Adam replied.

"Just...tell them to look for anyone that might appear sick, nothing more, no description about symptoms. We don't need to get them scared just yet. They look pretty skittish." Julia cautioned.

"Right, right." Adam nodded.

"Now as for the WC and Hierarchy?" Carl asked.

"Burn em." Sven grumbled, getting tired of the muddiness of politics.

"Wish it were that easy, Sven. This isn't the good old days where all we dealt with were run of the mill raiders." James reminded.

"Perhaps we should run this by Francis, first?" Carl suggested, scratching his head.

"Sounds like a sensible idea." James agreed.

"We'll go down to meet him...it will just be a simple meeting." Adam said, tossing in the last statement when his gaze met Alexandra's. She looked very unhappy at the idea.

"Speaking of sensible ideas...what are they doing?" Carl asked, flicking his chin towards the center of the square.

Sure enough, the members of the vault were throwing together what looked like an artificial tree. It had probably been in one of the crates that they shipped down from the vault when the Regulator teams salvaged what they could from the old place. A pair of men were even wrestling what looked like a portable fusion generator by the tree.

"I swear, I think they're just as crazy as I am. Whoever thought about making a fake tree?" Sven blurted.

It was then that Overseer Frank Valdez approached them.

"Uh, I hope you guys don't mind us setting up a Christmas tree and all. It is getting about that time of the year." Valdez admitted.

The others stared at him blankly.

"You know...Christmas? Did you guys lose Christmas in the blast?" Frank Valdez asked.

"I've...never seen a Christmas in my life." James replied.

"Could you describe it? I might have set one on fire." Sven said.

"It's a holiday. You know, celebrating the birth of Christ. Gift exchange. Christmas trees. Santa. Was that forgotten?" Frank shrugged.

"Apparently." Julia observed.

"Oh man, well, let me educate you guys." Frank offered.

* * *

Asimov and Rat sat out in the streets just outside of the workshop. Despite being a machine, Asimov's organic brain still needed to take breaks every now and then. Rat, temporarily relieved of the duty of watching the village children and unable to beg for more cheese from Sarah, decided to keep Asimov company. Currently, the duo decided to amuse themselves by watching the pedestrians wander by. Everyone was busy with the task of trying to insulate their homes and prepare for the chill that would be coming. Snow was rare these days but it was almost certain that irradiated frost would fall a couple times during the winter season.

The vaulties seemed particularly energetic.

"I wonder what they're running about for." Asimov said.

"Squeak." Rat chirped.

"Now that I think about it...this looks familiar...looking for presents." Asimov muttered.

"Squeak?" Rat let out, looking at the machine.

"I should get something for Claudia. Something so that she can remember me while I'm on the Alaskan front..." Asimov murmured, his voice subtly changing.

"Squeak!" Rat squawked, getting alarmed and placing both front paws on Asimov's frame.

"She will miss me, and I will miss her. I wish it didn't have to be-...whoa, what just happened?" Asimov suddenly woke from his flashback.

"Squeak." Rat replied, returning to his original position of sitting on his haunches.

"Well, guess I should be getting back to work." Asimov announced, wheeling back into the factory.

Rat wanted cheese.

* * *

The days passed on. Francis received the news and told his Liberators to await further instructions. The ships continued to escort the caravans up river and wished them mercy on the remainder of the journey northward. Traffic had gone down to a trickle, both due to the plague scare as well as the dropping temperatures. No one wanted to be caught outside when irradiated frost or, heaven forbid, irradiated snow started to fall.

The people at Albany and the Regulators on the river kept an eye out for any signs of the New York Scourge but still, nothing major occurred. Rumors persisted that there were still sightings of the sickness among individuals and all hoped that it would simply burn itself out. While the threat of a major outbreak lingered over their heads, they could only pray that if there were still instances of the Scourge out there, they were isolated incidents that meant the plague was simply one body away from ending.

And yet the vaulties managed to keep something festive in the air until that fateful day.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town, a lot of people were still scurrying, including the oversized rat. The vaulties had taken over and the older wastelanders simply went along with care. Some of the wastelanders tried to participate in the gift giving, preparing small trinkets of extra ammo, caps or even the spare can or box of food. The vaulties tried to prepare more elaborate gifts but they found that it was a bit harder out here in the wastes. Still, they were determined to make the most of their situation, especially with their new friends.

The majority of the Liberators had decided the best they could give was the precious few moments of spare time they had.

James and Carl sat on the stools that rested outside Albany's main tavern which overlooked the town square. They assumed the majority of the people would be meeting here for what the vaulties explained would have to be midnight, when Christmas day would arrive. Feeling an old pain in his arm, James lightly rubbed his prosthetic. He looked over to see Carl doing the same except to his leg. Both men shared a knowing smile. Phantom limb was an odd thing.

"James, you'll freeze to death." Julia scolded, walking up to him and tightening the scarf around his neck.

"Thanks, dear." James chuckled as she sat next to him, leaning against his coat for some warmth against the evening chill.

"Squeak!" Rat greeted, climbing up on the counter top so he could be included.

"My external sensors tell me it is 36 degrees Fahrenheit out here. I imagine you all don't find this very comfortable." Asimov concluded, bumbling in behind Rat.

Cindy, Sven and Gloria soon appeared after him. All of them bundled up and joined the others before those who were watching the vaulties continue to make some last minute adjustments to the tree or otherwise exchanging things which they assumed was important to the celebration.

Last to arrive was Adam and Alexandra.

"You know, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea, throwing a party." Carl observed, still watching all the antics in front of them.

"I did some research in the books. The celebration has a pretty good message. Peace on earth, good will to all men, hope that all will be made right in the end." James explained.

"Hey, this reminds me of when we had our first real talk." Adam said to Alexandra, motioning at the bar counter they were leaning back on.

"You mean when I got completely plastered and made a fool out of myself?" Alexandra smiled.

"I was a little buzzed on whiskey too, so you weren't the only one." Adam replied.

It was apparently getting close to midnight. The vaulties were already counting down.

"Wow, they're getting really excited." Julia observed.

"Certainly making a lot of noise." Gloria added.

Adam glanced around nervously but then tried to suppress the paranoia.

And in one joyous cry, the lit up the tree with a bunch of lights, plugging it into the generator.

"Aw geez, just lights? No explosions?" Sven complained.

"It'll be okay, Sven." Cindy giggled.

Julia watched as the Boys, Otto, Juan, Gerald and Anthony seemed to be trying to chat up Sarah. They were being met with what appeared to be mixed results but in the end, Sarah excused herself and walked up to the Liberators and company at the tavern.

"I really wish we could have given you guys something more for Christmas. I mean, we probably wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you guys." Sarah admitted sheepishly.

"No, Sarah. Thank you. All of you. I think you did indeed give something to us." Julia replied, noticing the different countenance of the people around them. Even the ones that weren't exchanging gifts seemed to be walking around...differently.

It was unusual to experience grace.

"But I promise I'll now be working on water purification and soil treatment projects. Maybe we could get some edible crops growing." Sarah said excitedly. What she said was mostly gibberish to everyone except Julia.

"That's nice, sweetie but one day at a time. Go enjoy the celebration." Julia encouraged.

"Thanks, Julia. Oh, and here's something for Rat." Sarah handed a spare block of cheese to the oversized rodent. Rat squeaked excitedly, bounced off the counter to hug Sarah's leg before grasping the block with both of his front paws.

For Rat, the company and food was happiness cubed.

And as the stars circled overhead, a once forgotten event found its rebirth. In a world devastated by war, a landscape scarred by arrogance and sin, a single note rang through the air as old songs from the past floated to the heavens. They told of an old story, peace on earth, goodwill to all men.

* * *

It was evening. They had fought their way through many miles, Talon Company and other hostile mercenaries but they were still safe. David had been changing his routine a bit, reciting a bit more prayers than usual but the others had accepted it and did not bother him.

And now, Joseph, David, Isaac, Suda and Furious lounged by the fire they had lit. David had finished a final prayer and sat down to relax. He cleared his throat.

"Well, you're all probably wondering about the prayers and all. Its for the holiday of Hanukkah. First one I celebrated away from home." David admitted.

"Guess you miss home." Isaac replied. Next to him Furious tucked his paws under him and rested in the dirt as a mass of spikes.

"Yeah. I really am starting to miss Rachel and Shiloh." David sighed.

"We will return home eventually." Joseph said. He realized he too was starting to miss home.

"Where's home for you, Suda?" Isaac asked.

Suda had since started to warm up to them. There was still a massive barrier erected but at least she now allowed them to be just a little closer. She still sat by herself and made it a point to do so but at least she no longer insisted on simply being a satellite.

"Never had one. I've always been wandering." Suda replied.

Isaac learned to simply let her say how much she wanted.

"Well, happy Hanukkah, friends. I'm glad to have you all around." David said.

Furious let out a happy chirp.

* * *

_Author's Note: Hey, I was actually able to observe the holidays with the story this time. I decided to get this out now before the already hectic season may or may not hit a climax. Thanks to those who have been helping and giving their much needed input. Blessings on all of you who are reading, how ever you are observing this time of year. _


	19. Chapter 19

"_Squeak."_

-Rat

* * *

Rat woke up just before the sun started to rise and began his day like he usually did. His old paws and joints no longer got in gear as quick as they used to so he probably spent a minute or two wide awake trying to figure out how to get out of bed. After letting the blood come back into his aging limbs a moment, he was able to stumble out of his makeshift bed and scamper out the miniature rat door the Vanderbrauns had so graciously built into their own human sized door of their residence.

Few people were awake and actually out on the streets at this hour. If they had been, they would probably wonder why the village rat was wandering off to the ruins as if the rodent had some secret errands to run that only he knew about. Whatever he was poking around in the old crevices for, it only took him an hour or so because he would then return back to the house in time for breakfast.

By now, the routine was so overdone it was almost mechanical. Every now and then there would be a surprise on the menu but usually Julia went with what was sure to work. A can of Pork n Beans left on the floor and a bowl of mostly clean water and Rat would be happy.

Rat had been trained to take the empty cans and carry them over to the rifle factory so that the metal could be recycled. Carrying the can firmly in his jaws, he would make his way to the workshop where he would find Asimov.

"Squirk." Rat grunted, dropping the can behind the robot.

"Ah, and good morning to you too, squeaker." Asimov greeted, wheeling around to pick up the can, grab it with a metal claw and then expertly tossing it into the appropriate pile.

Cautiously, Rat leaped from the floor and grasped onto Asimov's brain case. Asimov otherwise ignored his passenger and wheeled along as usual. It was in this way that Rat tagged along for awhile while resting his paws. However, even Rat started to sense that Asimov was getting to the part where he would be required to work with the pounding steel and heated metal. This was something Rat was not fond of. Taking off in a quick bounce, Rat started to make his way towards the door.

"You have a good day, rodent." Asimov said.

"Squeak!" Rat replied before making his way out of the factory.

At this point in the day, his job usually shifted over to watching the children who were not preoccupied with other tasks. Education was not altogether constant yet in Albany so there were always some pack of kids that needed to be supervised. Of course, Rat could not take care of all scenarios that might arise but he certainly made sure they stayed away from dangerous areas, by leading them away from such places. If a fight broke out or they ignored his directions, he often went scampering off to find an adult.

All in all, the residents understood that, despite the absurdity of it, the rodent was a good babysitter. At least, for a creature that lacked opposable thumbs and complicated language skills.

At around lunch time, after all the kids had gone to their homes, Rat would return back to the house to get his meal. At this point he got whatever was left over from whatever the family had. Today, it was mirelurk meat, also another favorite of his. Of course, Rat would probably have a hard time deciding what food he _didn't_ like.

After lunch he usually had the afternoon to do whatever he wished. Occasionally that meant hanging around whichever part of town he fancied. Sometimes it was by the docks, other times it was by the tavern or once in awhile visiting the factory again. Today, he made a quick tour through the places, greeting the people he knew and getting attention where he could. Rat and Asimov exchanged another quick round of banter before he left to go visit the explosives factory; specifically to go see Sarah.

At Sarah's lab, he usually followed her around or hung out in a spot to watch her. If anything, he was just there to keep her company and she would occasionally talk to him. However, anyone who has known Rat quickly learns that he is a rodent of a few words. Occasionally he would squeak back but usually only a squeak. He did a better job listening but at least he would make sure that you knew he was listening.

And for his company, he got a cube of cheese. Rat was happy.

Rat would usually waddle home some time before dinner. It was about this time that he liked to hop on the coffee table and contemplate the family pictures. In some ways, he regretted that they did not have a photograph of the first girl that had summoned him all those years back.

Those were different days back then. He was simply another New York Rat scratching out a living among the ruins. One day, he heard something tugging at him, a slight but distinct tug within his mind. It was a gentle, soothing tap almost. Naturally, like any other curious rodent, he followed the call. It brought him over the walls of the House and into the building itself. The challenge was remaining undetected through his infiltration but the gentle, mental pull almost seemed to guide him around dangers and those who might have spotted him. Eventually, several floors up, he was surprised to find that the source of what had summoned him. It was a human girl, but unlike the others she seemed to be able to communicate to him more effectively than any other human could.

She quickly started to resonate within his mind, helping him to understand humans even more than he already could.

She told him that it was best that he stuck around. He was going to be needed. Then the other humans came along, stuck a collar around his neck (he still had that land mine arming mechanism around his neck all these years) and gave him food.

Rat certainly wasn't going to turn his nose up to the food part.

But still, he had good memories after the girl disappeared. The people in the green coats certainly treated him well. Occasionally he had to save their sorry hides and at times they saved him. And then there were the children. He enjoyed being around all of them. Lowell treated him well and Evelyn was always the sweetest to him. Somehow, it was always Isaac who he got to adventure with the most.

He missed them, he had really wished they were there but the pictures were a nice way of bringing back the memories.

He yipped at the pictures and then scampered off for dinner.

Once night had fallen and the town had settled in for the night, James and Julia usually settled to rest on the couch. Rat, never turning down an opportunity for attention, struggled up the cushions before planting himself between them. He curled up, resting mostly in Julia's lap but landing his head on James' leg. All in all, it had been a good day and he was growing tired. He continued to let his mind wander through all the memories he had. It had been a long and rambunctious journey. There were dangers, there were fears and there was indeed some bad times that he did not enjoy. But still, he had been with good people. As far as accomplishments go, saving a couple lives and being a good friend to a couple more was probably far more touching to the people he knew than what most monuments could achieve.

He was getting very tired now and he let his eyes close as he drifted to sleep but his last thought was a happy one.

He had had a most wonderful time.

"We should probably go to bed. We got another long day ahead." Julia suggested quietly.

"You're probably right." James agreed wearily before looking down at the rodent.

"Come on little guy, we got to call it a night." James said, stroking the rodents head.

Alas, Rat did not stir.

"Rat, come on, you're still sitting on me." Julia chided, patting the rodent's back. Rat still did not rouse.

Julia glanced at James with a worried look.

Fishing his old sunglasses from a pocket, James placed it near Rat's mouth and nose. He slumped when he did not see any condensation form on the glass. It was hard to believe but just a few moments ago their old friend had passed on his sleep.

The task ahead became a very hard one.

In the end, some time later, James and Julia were behind their house as James stuck the shovel back into the ground. In front of them was a simple cross sitting at the head of some freshly disturbed earth. It was Rat's final marker, his worn collar resting around the neck of the cross, the disarming mechanism starting to sway in the breeze.

"The children are going to be so upset when they hear about this." Julia said sadly.

"The children? Heck, _I_ miss him already." James admitted, pretending to brush a grain of sand out of his eye.

"You were always a big softie." Julia chided with a sad smile, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You miss him too." James replied.

"Yes...I do." Julia whispered.

And then, emerging from the dark, James and Julia glanced in surprise at some unexpected visitors.

There on the ground were other New York Rats. At first there were about six but then about a dozen showed up and shortly thereafter there were about twenty of them. James and Julia were not quite sure what the meaning of this was. They were all staring transfixed at the grave marker.

"What? How come we've never seen this many rats here? I thought they were only in New York City." Julia whispered in observation.

"Wait...you know, a couple female rats could have stowed away on the ships and gotten dropped over here. They probably went to go and hide in the ruins as that would be the most familiar to them. Rat probably sniffed them out...and..." James speculated.

"...So that's where he's was disappearing off to in the mornings..." Julia said.

The many rats continued to stare at the marker for a couple more minutes before one stepped out from the others and sat on its haunches in front of the marker. The other rats started to stalk off back into the darkness, dispersing as they went. However, that one in front of the cross stayed there with its paw still on the monument. After a moment, it looked up at James and Julia.

"Squeak."

* * *

_Author's Note__: Written in memory of close friends and relatives who passed on during the writing of the Dusters trilogy._


	20. Chapter 20

"_Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe."_

- Paradise Lost

* * *

The morning sun was still low in the sky. Orange had only just turned to yellow. Below, sand swept across the landscape when cast along by the sporadic wind. Alas, only one thing was out of place, breaking the stillness Echoing across the land was the sound of gunfire. The ground was not flat and pockmarked with depressions. there was indeed cover to be found but you had to beg for it and hold onto it because your life did indeed depend on it. Practically laying on their backs, Isaac the only one down on his stomach, the Regulators, the mercenary and the Spike Dog tried to assess who exactly was firing on them.

"Now remind me one more time, how did we get into this situation?" Suda growled, glaring at Joseph.

"Before you start ranting, if it wasn't for the fact that I told us all to drop, they probably would have hit one of us." Joseph retorted.

"Am I the only one thinking about covering fire?" David grumbled, blind firing his assault rifle over the mouth of the shallow depression.

Furious barked irritably before rolling up into a ball.

"You do that, I'm trying to take aimed shots here." Isaac replied, ignoring the rounds flying around his head as he peered through his scope.

"You snipers just have to be so methodical." David grumbled.

"Just take them down." Suda snapped, also pulling out her assault rifle to blind fire over the depression.

"Hard for me to get an arrow on them from this position." Joseph grumbled.

"Stop firing!" Isaac suddenly shouted at them.

"Isaac, what are you talking about? We distinctly saw their black armor. They were Talon Company. Do you want to get overwhelmed?" David cried angrily.

"I said, don't fire on them. Let me handle it." Isaac growled, taking another aimed shot.

"What, you want all the fun?" Suda scoffed.

She suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of Isaac's laser pistol.

"Do. Not. Fire. Anyone of you." Isaac warned, his tone and countenance a completely different side than any of them had seen before.

Joseph, David and Suda waited in disbelief as Isaac suddenly became almost mechanical. His whole presence seemed to radiate agitation as his Excelsior rifle started spitting out rounds faster than usual. It was hard to tell if all his shots were hitting their targets. At this point, they were actually more concerned as to what had gotten into Isaac.

And, as if to complete the list of surprises, Isaac suddenly leaped out of the trench and started running, screaming towards where the Talons were.

They all glanced at each other. It took the others a moment to register what happened before they too took off, following right behind him.

"Has he gone mad?" Joseph panted. Isaac still had a massive lead on them.

"No clue what's gotten into that putz." David huffed, sprinting as fast as he could to catch up to Isaac.

"What is he doing?" Suda asked, squinting ahead.

They looked forward just in time to see Isaac roughly knock the last Talon to the ground with his rifle.

"He's got a lot of explaining to do." Suda grumbled.

Just a short moment later and Joseph, David, Suda and the grumbling Furious finally caught up to the heavily panting Isaac. He was staring down at the still bodies of the Talons.

"Looks like you got them all. Nice shot on all of them. Except for this last one. Hey, she's a she...and she's still breathing." David observed in mild shock.

"I'll take care of that." Joseph said darkly, fishing out his his tomahawk.

He stopped when he felt Isaac's palm blade machete point on his neck.

"Don't touch her." Isaac warned, once again resonating darkness.

"Care to explain to me what's going on, Isaac?" Joseph demanded, voicing the same question all the others had.

Isaac sighed and sat down, all the while contemplating the still unconscious Talon woman.

"Her name is Claire." Isaac admitted quietly.

"What?" David sputtered.

"She's my ex." Isaac grumbled.

–

The people of Albany were a bit surprised to find that a whole pack of new residents had seemingly moved in overnight. To call it an "infestation" would have been a bit overly dramatic because there was only about twenty of the new comers. Still, when you're only used to seeing one New York Rat roaming around and all of a sudden there is twenty, it can be a bit jarring.

Even Asimov could not overlook it.

"What is this? Did Rat invite all his friends or did he multiply?" Asimov asked, wheeling by Julia outside her home on his way to the factory.

"Uh, we're guessing he multiplied." Julia admitted, a bit shock herself. Here and there, either in twos or threes, the New York Rats would be hanging out. It appeared they had inherited Rat's sense of tidiness and were otherwise not bothering anyone or anything. Still, people were glancing at the rodent gangs as they went about their business.

"Well, I should congratulate the little fleabag. Where is the rodent? I have something for him." Asimov announced.

"Um...Asimov..." Julia started before bending down to whisper the bad news next to his brain.

"W-what? Preposterous!" Asimov barked, refusing to believe it.

"I'm sorry, Asimov but it happened last night. He just went to sleep and never woke up." Julia explained.

"I...well...did you bury him? Can I see the spot?" Asimov asked, seemingly twitching even though Julia knew that was quite impossible with his welding.

"He's out back behind the house." Julia said, letting Asimov wheel that direction by himself. She figured the Robobrain would probably want a moment alone. As much as the two bickered, they were good friends for some time.

Asimov said nothing to her after he wheeled away. He simply bumbled past her and straight to the factory. She decided that he was going to need to simply drown himself in work for a bit. Asimov had a habit of doing that when he wasn't in the best of moods.

When Julia peeked around the corner to check on the cross one last time, she noticed a box of Dandy Boy Apples sitting on the ground.

Elsewhere, Adam walked purposefully up to James and Sven who had been in the streets, talking about coordinating their work between the factories. Right behind Adam was a rather unhappy looking Carl.

"What's up?" James asked, noticing Adam's rather grim countenance.

"Francis sent a message up river. He wants us to go to the Hierarchy. We're going to first try and convince them to agree to a cease fire. Then we're going to confront them about the whole cloak and dagger business of disguising their own soldiers as raiders." Adam announced.

"I'm not sure confronting them is such a good idea. Then they'll know we've been talking with the Western Coalition. I don't know how they'll take to that." James murmured.

"Think that's bad? What if a raider from the Western Coalition sees us heading towards Hierarchy lines? What will that look like? No matter what we do we're in a bad situation." Carl pointed out.

"I'm sure Francis has thought about all that but those were the orders, delivered here by the shipboard Regulators themselves." Adam said with a shrug.

"I don't doubt you, Adam. I just wish there was a better way to handle all of this." James replied with a sigh.

"Should I bring the dual mini-nuke/missile launcher?" Sven asked through his breathing mask.

"I don't know if they'll appreciate that either." James cautioned.

"No. Take it." Adam ordered.

"We mean business now." Adam finished sternly.

–

"Wait, let me get this straight...you dated a Talon Company merc?" Suda demanded.

Isaac sighed.

"Man, you just keep getting more interesting with each passing day! Interesting to be sure. Brilliant? Not so much." David laughed.

Joseph noticed how Isaac was simply staring into the unconscious woman's face.

"Are you sure its her?" Joseph asked, relaxing his grip on his tomahawk.

"Almost positive. I felt a jolt run down my spine when I saw her. It has to be her." Isaac replied softly, rubbing his brow.

"Great, not only did you date a Talon but you're still in love with her. Wonderful." Suda scoffed sarcastically.

"She wasn't a Talon when we dated. We were still kids back then." Isaac grumbled.

Suda whipped out her shotgun and pointed it at Claire's still form.

"Well honey, time to wake up and smell the roses. She's not the little skank you loved anym-"

"Suda, no!" Isaac jumped up and grabbed the shotgun, pointing the barrel high into the sky.

"Let go of my gun!" Suda barked.

"We're not shooting her, understand me?" Isaac growled back.

"This doesn't look good." David muttered to Joseph in concern.

"You think this is bad? Wait till she wakes up." Joseph muttered back.

"Isaac, I swear, I will kill you if you don't let go of my gun. If we don't shoot her now then she'll probably end us when we're asleep or have our backs turned. I wouldn't put it past the little bi-"

Isaac shoved Suda back so she landed on the ground.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Isaac snarled.

Suda fired her gun into the sky.

"That's your last warning." Suda said ominously.

"Or what?" Isaac retorted.

"Isaac, if we don't shoot her, she'll kill us. Are you going to choose us or some floozie that already broke your heart once?" Suda demanded.

"Let me handle this." Isaac growled.

Claire let out a slight groan.

"Starting now." Isaac hissed before turning around to check on Claire.

"What happened?" Claire asked to no one in particular.

Isaac was secretly relieved that the blow to her head must have knocked out a few short term memories.

"Oh shoot, okay, I surrender, just don't kill me...wait a minute..." Claire stuck her hands up, seeing David and Joseph staring down at her. It was then that she noticed Isaac walking up to her.

"Claire." Isaac started.

"I-Isaac? Is that you?" Claire inquired, squinting at him.

"Yes, it's me." Isaac answered quietly, feeling not only a vast helplessness as to what to do next but also a very numbing sense of oblivion.

"Oh my word, it's been ages! I'm so happy to see you!" Claire cried, jumping up to give him a hug.

David instinctively leveled his rifle at her back while Joseph raised his tomahawk.

Isaac wasn't sure why, but the embrace really hurt him emotionally for some reason.

"...Ha...ha...I take it your friends probably are a little distrustful of me at the moment." Claire said sheepishly into his ear.

She looked up to see Suda getting onto her feet. Claire not only felt the full heat of Suda's glare, she picked up the murder in her eyes.

Isaac meanwhile was scowling over Claire's shoulder at Joseph and David.

"Well, you have to admit, you did kind of shoot at them." Isaac mumbled back, gently parting himself from her.

"...Right..." Claire said, fidgeting nervously.

"...Yeah...right..." Isaac trailed off.

Suda marched passed them both and immediately got to the bodies of the Talons.

"So are we just going to stand here like a bunch of idiots?" Suda barked.

"Oy vey..." David muttered.

–

The Carbide Tempest lounged on one of the upper stories of a skyscraper overlooking the eastern outskirts of the city. Gazing out on the view, they could see nothing but the desolate expanse leading towards the east.

Birns was watching the vista through the scope of his Excelsior rifle.

"Its been days since we've seen a single mutant." Felson muttered, tinkering with his Tesla cannon.

Birn's rifle spat fire into the distance.

"Speak for yourself." the sniper retorted.

"Fine, it's been days since we've seen a single mutant _within_ the city." Felson corrected in exasperation.

"Think that's the end of the New Human Effort, then? After all, reports did say that they withdrew from the city and got the short end of the stick after that last battle with Phlegyas." Hardings offered.

"Command still wants us posted here. They're even sending the battle walker back here as soon as possible." Lowell replied.

"What do you think that means?" Evelyn asked.

"Nothing good." Lowell replied.

"As in they might be coming back?" Hardings inquired.

Birn's rifle went off again.

"They keep coming back one by one like that and it won't be a problem." Birn's chuckled.

"Possibly, that or its the intelligence the Enclave are feeding them...I swear, I distrust those guys." Lowell grumbled.

"They've haven't back stabbed us yet." Evelyn replied.

"Yeah. Yet." Lowell muttered.

–

It had been years since the four original Liberators assembled together but now you could almost hear an ethereal ring in the air. It was as if the original team, now assembled together and readied from head to toe, was bending the very fabric of reality around them. The legend was still alive and they were ready for another crusade.

"Ow..." James muttered, rubbing his smarting joints acting up from the mild arthritis.

"I hear you, brother." Carl muttered, bending over the nurse the phantom pain in his leg.

Sven took a deep breath and went into a coughing, wheezing fit.

"You guys are killing me." Adam rolled his eyes, pacing along the deck of the _Half Moon_. It had been decided taking a fast river merchant ship would was a better idea than the fully armed and intimidating _Hammer_. They didn't want the Hierarchy or the Western Coalition getting the wrong idea.

"And you shouldn't be drinking that this early in the morning." Alexandra scolded, coming up behind him and snatching the flask of whiskey from his hand.

"It was only a sip." Adam defended.

Alexandra had to admit, despite their age and infirmities, the four Liberators were still an intimidating sight. Carl could still shoulder the weight of both his gatling laser and super sledge. Sven, despite his coughing issues, still seemed right at home carrying his incinerator, shotgun and dual fatman and missile launcher. Not to mention the collection of homemade explosives. James' mechanical left arm made sure his aim was always steady and his eyesight had not dulled with the years.

And Adam was still indisputably a demon with a blade, a master of the wastes.

"We'll be arriving near the Hierarchy outposts within a couple minutes so you boys best get your stuff together." Alexandra warned.

"Truth be told, I hope we don't need half this crap." James said, motioning towards most of the weapons they were carrying.

Eventually, the _Half Moon_ pulled to a harbor that was a common stopping point for merchants heading north. The path ahead would easily lead to Hierarchy outposts. The men took a moment to gather themselves before stepping off the ship. Adam was the last to leave.

"Adam...please, be careful." Alexandra pleaded quietly before he left.

"Sweetheart, you know I always am." Adam replied.

"Just come back home." Alexandra said.

"I will." Adam answered before kissing her and catching up with the others.

Alexandra watched as the four left the ship and simply clasped her hands together in front of her. She assured herself that compared to other missions Adam had been on, this would be relatively safe. Yet, should could not help but get the same feeling she got when she could see a distant storm off on the horizon.

–

Joseph led the now awkwardly silent group towards DC. Well, it was mostly silent save for a few sad sniffs from Claire. Like Suda, she now had no choice but to follow the group. Unlike Suda, she had no choice but to watch her former comrades lose their fingers. ("Strictly business." David assured her.) But she also was mourning the fact that her boyfriend was one of the fallen.

"Dude, his head had exploded. That was completely you." David whispered to Isaac.

"Shut up." Isaac hissed.

So, other than a few last whimpers from Claire, everything remained in an uncomfortable silence. Of course, not understanding the atmosphere, Furious let out a mildly satisfied burp.

He had been enjoying the strip of flesh he had ripped off one of the Talons.

"...So, are we just going to ignore the obvious question we're all wondering?" Suda finally voiced.

"Suda, perhaps we need to wait a moment for-"

"For what? For her to come up with a better plan to kill us all?" Suda interrupted Isaac.

"Suda!" Isaac scowled.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked.

"I'm wondering what we're going to do to you! I'm sorry, but I have a hard time forgetting that when we first met, it was through target sights and our first greeting was not a 'How are you' but an aimed gunshot." Suda snapped.

"That's the obvious question? I was wondering why they broke up in the first place." David admitted.

Joseph sighed and brought his palm to his forehead.

"Right, I'm Talon company, you're another merc and these three are Regulators. They have just as much reason to distrust you as they do me." Claire sent back at Suda.

"They got more reason to _hate_ you than they do me. It's not like Talon Company ever had a good relationship with anyone. At least normal mercs can go both ways." Suda grumbled.

"Ladies, could we tone this a bit down?" Isaac sighed.

"Look, I signed up with them because I needed the money. They're gone now and for all practical purposes, I'm captured. What do you think I'm going to do?" Claire shrugged angrily.

"Hm, stab us in the back when we're not looking?" Suda asked sarcastically.

"Everyone, enough!" Isaac asserted.

"Dude, don't step into the middle of two angry women. It's not good for your health." David muttered.

Joseph had simply sat on the ground a few moments before while Furious lounged next to him. Both were watching on in curiosity.

"I'm not asking you to like but, but I think you're just being a bit too paranoid." Claire grumbled.

"Don't worry, I _don't_ like you. I just want to make sure I'm not going to get killed by you." Suda retorted.

"Fine, if you want, I'll walk right in front of you." Claire shrugged.

"Fine. No funny movements." Suda sent back.

"Are we done?" Joseph asked in exasperation, standing up.

"Done? Man, you have to know by now things are only beginning." David replied.

"I hate you all." Isaac sighed.


	21. Chapter 21

_Some said the world would end in fire_

_Some said in ice_

_And with apologies to an old poet_

_It did not exactly end in fire_

_But it probably should have_

_

* * *

_

Delta Sierra stalked through the dust. He had been tracking for weeks now, or was it a month? He had lost track. In the end it did not matter. He was on high alert again. He had seen the super mutants. He was almost certain they belonged to the Neo Human Effort. They were conversing with each other. They were also talking about a "plan," a "secret weapon."

It also did not help that they were heading further east, not west, the opposite direction of New York. In other words, wherever they were headed, it was probably their point of origin. Delta Sierra was expecting an old military facility or a Vault but he learned to expect the unexpected.

In the end, he just had to keep following them. They would probably lead him to his objective. And then ENCOM could blow the darn thing up. Provided, of course, he wasn't spotted. Under normal circumstances, with regular mutants, he would have laughed at the thought. Alas, these were different mutants. They actually conversed with each other. Before he usually did not have a qualm about sneaking in front of a mutant with his stealth suit on. Dumb brutes didn't know any better. These New Human Effort mutants? They seemed dangerously adept. Then there was an agent in the field who had gone missing weeks ago. That agent had been equipped with the same cloaking technology he had.

He wasn't going to let his guard down.

–

The group continued on their way to DC though the awkward silence had fallen away long ago. Suda was still insisting that she follow behind everyone so she could keep her vigil on Claire. However, after awhile the icy glare wasn't just directed at her. Suda was directing a few more at Isaac.

David, who was blissfully strolling along managed to slow down so that he was just in front of Suda.

"Please tell me you see exactly what's going on in front of you." Suda muttered quietly to David.

Surprise that she even said something to him, David glanced back at her.

"What are you talking about?" the Regulator asked.

"Can't you see what's going on? Look at those two." Suda grumbled, motioning to Isaac and Claire.

"They're talking?" David muttered back in exasperation.

"They're not just talking. Watch them. It's the _way _she talks, the tone of voice, now she's touching his shoulder, the giggle now, I mean look, he's even starting to smile." Suda listed in observation.

"It's called being nice to someone. You should try it sometime." David retorted.

"She's manipulating him, trying to get on his good side again!" Suda hissed angrily so that only she and he could hear.

"To what? Shoot us in the back?" David asked.

"Yes!" Suda snapped.

"Tell you what, you just keep an eye out on her and I'll just pray that _you_ don't shoot me in the back." David grumbled.

"Hey, we got something up ahead." Joseph warned.

Furious grumbled irritably. He was getting hungry.

"What is it?" David asked.

"Looks like a settlement. Maybe you could give it a look?" Joseph asked Isaac.

Isaac brought his scope in front of his eye to look at the distant town.

"Seems like a nice play with several routes. I think there may even be a caravan or two running through. All of them good signs." Isaac reported.

"Haha, well we shall live in civilization tonight!" David exulted.

Furious waddled ahead, turned around and let out a grumpy bark, as if hurrying them so they could go get food.

–

Those who say that 'seeing is believing' have underestimated the power of unseen faith. This became apparent as Adam, Carl, Sven and James strolled through Haven towards its capital building called the Estate. The people of the Hierarchy had heard the stories of the Liberators and obviously had never seen them in action. However, just the fact that four men bearing the uncanny resemblance to the descriptions told in the stories was enough to part a path for them. They got more than enough gawking stares as they walked through.

"I don't think I could get used to this." James murmured as he took off his shades and placed them in his duster pocket.

"Too many eyes...too much attention..." Sven blurted.

"Don't mind them. Walk like you own the place." Adam instructed under his breath.

"It looks like they're fairly convinced of that." James replied.

Within moments, they were within the Estate and without a word were finding their way towards the Director's office. No one bothered the question them. In fact, all they received were shocked stares. James ignored them and tried to bring Adam up to speed.

"The Director's name is Catherine Omedea. She's about our age and she's a bit on the serious side." James informed under his breath.

"Catherine, huh? Never would have guess their leader was a woman. That's rare these days." Adam muttered.

"Yeah, just don't underestimate her." James cautioned.

"If I underestimated my opponents, I never would have lived this long." Adam replied.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" a man who seemed used to being in authority interrupted them. James immediately recognized him as Catherine's son.

"We're here to see the Director." Adam replied.

"Ah, yes. Let me inform her. I am General Omedea, commander of the Hierarchy forces." General Omedea introduced himself with a toothless smile.

"Pleased to meet you. We'll wait for you to inform your boss." Adam replied, waiting for Omedea to disappear.

What the Liberators could not have known was that while the Director was indeed being summoned to meet them, General Omedea was also frantically requesting his chief officer of Hierarchy intelligence to show up. With the Liberators their within their clutches...well, this was an opportunity too good to pass up.

–

Joseph, Furious, Clair, Isaac, David and Suda strolled into the town without a problem. Apparently, the settlement was used to having visitors on a regular basis. No one batted an eye at them. In fact, their presence was almost welcomed. At least the townsfolk knew that with each law abiding visitor that passed through, so did their chances of making a nice transaction.

Claire herself needed to break off from them and find a way to hide her Talon Company armor.

However, the rest of the group just really wanted to crash in the local saloon, for a drink.

"Water. Do you have water?" Joseph asked the bar tender behind the counter.

"Yes, I assume you all want water then?" the man asked, looking at Joseph, Suda, David and Isaac. Claire had run off to see if she could get something to replace her Talon Company armor at the local general store.

"Yes." David replied hoarsely.

"Bark!" Furious reported grumpily, suddenly jumping up on the counter and glaring at the bartender.

"Whoa, you got a spike dog." the man observed, staring at the creature while he filled the glasses.

"Yes, but I think he's just hungry. You wouldn't have any scraps you could just give him for free, do you?" Isaac asked.

"Eh, maybe. It's not like anyone else is going to eat them, much less pay for them." the bartender decided, raising an eyebrow when Furious let out a low grumble.

"Wait a minute..." the bartender thought as he contemplated the unhappy ball of spikes.

"What?" David asked, tossing the man his caps before wolfing down the water.

"You're...you're not the spike dogs, are you?" the bartender asked.

"We just have a spike dog. We're not disagreeable creatures ourselves." Joseph muttered back.

"No, no. The Spike Dogs. Word has gotten around about a group of Regulators going around clearing out all those mercenaries fighting in their war out there. They had a spike dog with them so people have just taken to calling them the Spike Dogs. That...that can't be you guys, can it?" the bartender asked, pushing a plate full of scraps to Furious who immediately got to greedily chewing on them.

"Ummmm..." Isaac hummed, unsure how to answer the question.

"Well..." Joseph hesitated.

"Hey, you know of a Regulator leader around here who can cash in our fingers for us?" David asked, dropping a large leather bag on the counter.

The bartender stared at the ominous parcel with a look of disgust.

"Guess that answers my question. He's just two doors down the street on this side." The bartender replied.

"Thanks. You have a good day. Whoo hoo, pay day!" David cheered as he suddenly disappeared out the door.

"Think we should have left him with the bag by himself?" Joseph suddenly asked.

Isaac shrugged.

Furious was eating noisily on the counter.

"Hey, Isaac, I got something for you." Claire announced, stepping into the saloon. Apparently, she had found a simple leather dress to cover up the armor. It was probably the most practical and easiest solution.

"You had been complaining about the dust and wind so I got these goggles for you, the owner sold them free with the dress." Claire said, handing Isaac the goggles. They were of slim design, mostly clear and had probably belonged to a riot squad detachment of the police force back in the day.

"Hey, thanks." Isaac said, smiling.

Suda rolled her eyes and looked out the window. It was then that she noticed something.

"Are those slavers out there?" Suda demanded of the bartender.

"Yeah, they've been coming around here for the past couple days. We know there's a lot of them but no ones been buying. The Regulators here can't do much cause they're under powered and really, those guys are just the sellers. They don't know where the real slavers base of operations are." the bartender replied.

Isaac and Joseph immediately winced. Slavers caught at their base of operations or in the wastes were one thing. It was simply a shoot on sight policy. However, in neutral towns where they were trying to do business, things became more complicated. Regulators had learned that slavers often used coercion or other underhanded methods to keep otherwise innocent people under the thumb. Furthermore, especially in a town like this, it was just too risky to start a gunfight. Innocent people could get caught in the cross fire. In other words, slavers and New England Regulators often observed an unspoken cease fire within town limits.

"Hmmm..." Suda mumbled.

Joseph watched her gaze shift from the slaves up for auction.

She glanced at the young man who could have only been in his twenties.

There was a younger boy too, probably not even in his teens.

And finally, there was the young girl, could have only been a teenager.

Suda got off her stool and left the saloon.

"What is she doing?" Joseph asked as soon as Suda had left the building.

"You know...I have a strong feeling we should all start freaking out now." Isaac replied, slowly making his way towards the door just in case he needed to bolt after her.

–

The Regulator leader of the area was an older man with a grizzled disposition. He reminded David of Francis whom he had only met once. David was one of the last regulators to be recruited by Francis before he went into retirement, handing most of the duties over to Mark.

"Looks like you boys have been busy. That's nearly all my caps." the leader announced.

"Well, think of it as less of the bad guys out there." David replied.

"And that's a thought worth more than these caps." the leader answered

"I'll take the caps anyway." David chuckled.

"Yeah, now I couldn't help but notice, but was that woman with you when you boys strolled into town?" the leader asked, pointing out the window.

"Actually...she was..." David trailed off, absentmindedly taking the caps as he slowly made his way to the door, eyes always transfixed on Suda.

Outside, Suda marched up to the two slavers.

"Excuse me, how much are you expecting to sell these children for?" Suda asked.

"Well, you might be interested in the other two. The girl here we're kind of saving for a man. They'd probably find her more valuable than you, ma'am." one of the slavers replied.

"I understand. Perfectly." Suda answered.

And there was absolutely nothing anyone could have done to stop what happened next.

Suda had whipped out her combat shotgun and the first slaver simply had his midsection disintegrated under the blast. The second slaver rushed for his firearm but Suda had shifted quicker. Another explosion echoed out on the streets and the final slaver's decapitated corpse slumped to the ground.

The now freed slaves stared up at Suda in shock. She was fumbling to unlock their chains as she let her hair fall in her face.

"Go. Just go, you're free now." Suda told them, unlocking the last shackle.

They continued to stare at her.

"Go! Get out of here! There's nothing more I can do for you! Go!" Suda shouted at them angrily.

They immediately left.

"Suda...Suda, what just happened?"Isaac breathed, staring at the bodies in shock.

"What do you think just happened Isaac!" Suda snapped at him, turning back to face him.

"Suda...what's wrong?" Isaac asked in shock, surprised at what he saw.

Running down her face were angry, bitter tears.

"Isaac, shut up. I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone." Suda snapped, retreating back to the saloon where she immediately rented out a room and disappeared into.

"So...can someone tell me what just happened?" Joseph asked as soon as Isaac and David returned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure anyone here knows what's going on." Isaac replied.

A moments silence hung on the men.

"Mazel tov?" David offered, opening the bag of caps.

–

"I'm sorry, Mr. Anders but there is no way that any peace can be negotiated with the Western Coalition. They are not civilized, they are merely raiders. Honestly, why would Regulators such as yourselves be willing to make peace with them?" Director Catherine Omedea demanded.

"Have you tried negotiating with them? Their warlord seems really reasonable." Adam said.

James subtly kicked him under the table, warning him not to give away that they had spoken to Yeohart in person.

"I mean, that's the story we've heard." Adam doubled back quickly.

"Then the people who told you those stories are idiots. Besides, I'm sure once we have negotiated, they will just turn on those treaties. They will have no intention of keeping them." Director Omedea dismissed.

"Ma'am, there's a virus circulating out there. If anything the Western Coalition will probably want to avoid conflict so they don't get the plague. Your troops should probably do the same." James reminded.

"We will have to operate discreetly, but this virus should only be all the more reason we keep the pressure on them. Their lines will break and it might give us the turning point we need. I'm sorry gentlemen, as noble as your intentions are, there is no way we can negotiate with them." Omedea said.

"So what about these rumors that your troops dress as raiders to shift blame on them?" Adam asked out of nowhere.

"That is nothing but slander. Our forces would not resort to such underhanded methods." Catherine Omedea replied.

She seemed sincere enough.

That or blissfully unaware.

"Well, I'm sorry we could not offer a deal you could have agreed to. We shall not take anymore of your time. Goodbye, Director." Adam said politely before getting up to leave.

The others followed him outside into the hall. It was there that they ran into the General again, Catherine's son. He simply smiled at them.

"Travel safe, gentlemen" he offered.

"You too, General Omedea. And if I ever find out that you're dressing your men as raiders to cover your tracks, you'll die a very painful death." Adam replied with a smile, though his voice was completely serious.

James and Carl glared at Adam while General Omedea simply stared as they passed by.

"Adam, what the heck? Have you lost your mind?" James screeched as soon as they left the building.

"I'm not sure that's going to help our cause, at least not on the diplomatic factor." Carl added.

"I'm sorry guys, our diplomatic front with them is pretty bad anyway. I couldn't stand that guy's smug face. I know he's hiding something. I almost want to stab him right now and be done with it." Adam grumbled.

"Right, and then I'm sure the Hierarchy will throw all its forces against us." James muttered.

"Argh, since when did negotiating have this much at stake? Oh well, nothing left for us to do here. Let's get back to the harbor." Adam said.

Unknown to them, back in the Estate, General Omedea was sending out orders to some of his most trust special operation units. They were mobilized and already getting started to head out.

Their objective was to bring down a legend.

–

Suda left her room and stalked down the stairs to the bar. It was nearly midnight and she did not expect there to be that many people down there, especially considering the size of the town. She had managed to find her composure but she was still not in the best of moods.

Hence why she ordered a bottle of scotch and took it to a secluded corner of the room so she could be by herself. She took her time but eventually half the bottle was gone. There was no rush she just simply wanted the hours to numb themselves away. She could care less how much it was going to hurt tomorrow morning.

She was surprised when a hand reached out and took the bottle off the table.

"What are you- oh shoot, Isaac, what are you doing here?" Suda demanded, embarrassed that he had been sitting just off to the side of her this whole time and she never noticed.

"Your stunt pissed off the slavers, of course. The guys and I could not thank you well enough for doing that. Unfortunately, we're expecting their friends to come back and take care of us. Its my turn to watch for the night. If they don't show up during the evening, we're expecting either a showdown tomorrow morning or to be hunted when we leave." Isaac explained.

Suda groaned and unexpectedly let another tear fall from her eyes. Being hunted. That never brought good memories for her. She was tired of it.

"Suda, what's going on? It's not good to let all that poison burn inside you. And I'm not talking about the alcohol." Isaac said.

Suda was quiet for a moment.

"Fine...fine. You've been ungodly persistent so maybe I'll just tell you so you'll shut up." Suda grumbled, realizing that one the scotch had done a number on her and two, she was now counting on this either being a dream or she would forget about it in the morning.

"I lost both of my parents when I was little. My father died shortly after I was born. I barely remember him at all. My mother, she worked on ships. I don't know what exactly she did. It must have been security. I remember she was always carrying this sword with her, one that I had never quite seen before...or since. Anyway, we must have gotten caught in a storm. I just remember it being very chaotic and then all of a sudden the ship was gone. I was washed up on land...my mother was gone." Suda said quietly, simply staring a hole into the table.

"A bunch of men found me...they were slavers..." Suda admitted.

And quite to Isaac surprise and dismay, the levy broke in an instant too fast for him to be prepared for.

"Oh my god, Isaac...oh my god..." Suda wept bitterly, slumped onto the table.

"The hell I had to go through...the pain...it hurt so much...I can't even count the number of times I've been raped. I can't count the number of times I've switched hands...owners..." Suda cried quietly.

Isaac sat back. He wanted to do something, anything but he feared if he even moved towards her Suda would make him regret it.

"Finally, the owners I was with were hit by a mercenary group. They weren't Talons but there weren't much better. After the obligatory..._using..._I was given the choice to work with them. I went on a few missions with them until they began to trust me. Then one night I slaughtered my whole team. At least they taught me how to be a merc so I found another group to sign on with." Suda finished.

"Suda...I'm...going to put my hand on your shoulder, alright?" Isaac warned.

Suda said nothing except to sniff miserably.

"I'm not those men, Suda, and neither are David and Joseph. I'm still trying to figure out the same with Claire, but let me handle that. We're not those men. We're not going to do that to you and we're not going to let anyone do that again, okay?" Isaac said, only slightly rubbing her shoulder for fear she would reach out and snap his arm off.

"I don't trust people anymore, Isaac." Suda replied.

"I can't make you trust us, but you should learn to. It might be a load off your shoulders." Isaac answered.

"Every time I finally let down the wall I regretted it." Suda muttered sadly.

"I'm not them. We're not them. We're not going to hurt you." Isaac asserted.

"...I...I need to get some sleep." Suda finally said, not wanting to deal with it.

She stopped when she felt a glass of water placed in her hand.

"I'm heard somewhere that it might help deaden the hangover." Isaac explained.

Suda stared at him numbly and simply took the glass up with her.

Only a couple moments later, Joseph crept in silent as the fog.

"You are relieved." Joseph announced.

"Thanks, Joe." Isaac said tiredly before yawning.

"I passed Suda. Is she still being unpredictable?" Joseph asked.

"Unpredictable, yes. However, I think I finally understand her." Isaac replied, making his way to his room.

"You will have to enlighten us, I never thought that was possible." Joseph said, hand resting on his tomahawk.

"A family friend once told me that with the right amount of caps or flattery, anyone can talk. However, if all else fails, you should resort to alcohol. Fortunately, she took care of that herself." Isaac explained.

"Get some rest, Isaac. I fear we shall all need it for the morning." Joseph dismissed.

–

The _Half Moon_ was making its course back to Albany. Not much had changed on the ship. It still ran merchant routes and it even still had that old 40mm cannon mounted on its cabin. It had not seen much use through the years but Alexandra still kept it well maintained.

Night had fallen and there was not even a moon in the sky to give them light. Alexandra was running the ship at a slow pace. Piracy was rarely an issue on this part of the river so they were comfortable with having a few lights burning to help guide them along the waters.

Carl was quietly patrolling along the deck, pacing around in his boredom. He was not used to being on a ship that he was not in command in. Still, he knew better than to try and take over Alexandra's ship. He chuckled to himself at such an absurd thought and snacked on a mirelurk cake. He saw James off in the distance, leaning against the railing and started to make his way towards him.

Unknown to them, under the shadow of darkness, several smaller boats had silently gathered alongside the _Half Moon_.

The Hierarchy's special forces had been trained in clandestine operations. There was nothing they had not prepared for. Sabotage, assassination and espionage were run of the mill assignments. They were also smart and since they knew their master well, they also knew how to alter their plans should the rare complication occur.

Cloak and dagger operations were easy these days since no one knew how to counter them.

One particular operative was climbing his way up the hull through a secured rope they had managed to snare along the ship. The man leaning against the railing had no clue they were coming in from under him.

The operative recognized this man as he made his way up the rope. It was the Liberator's sniper. And even more fortunate, his hand was on the railing. If he could harm the man's hand then he could possibly end the sniper's career.

He was within range and with a well practiced maneuver, he hefted his sledgehammer brutally slammed the hammer onto the unprotected man's hand.

And, quiet unexpectedly, instead of the muffled sound of metal crushing flesh, a metallic clang echoed through the darkness.

"Ow?" James let out before kicking the bewildered infiltrator in the face, sending the attacker into the river.

"James, what's going on?" Carl demanded, rushing up to his comrade.

"Pirate took a swipe at my prosthetic. We got company!" James shouted, taking out his plasma pistol and firing at the surprised operatives along the hull.

Carl, looking over the side noticed more already climbing over the railings, grabbed his super sledge.

"Sure hope Alexandra doesn't mind a few dents on her deck." Carl muttered as he charged into them.

Several more men were sent flying into the river. One particularly unlucky operative was even sent so far that he landed in the shallows.

On the other side, Adam was having the time of his life. The operatives were having a hard time trying to track him down under the veil of his stealth boy. He looked over to see that Sven was delivering well aimed shotgun blasts into them. Adam made sure not to step into the line of fire.

When the battery finally gave out, Adam found several dazed operatives staring at him.

His Chinese longsword painted red on the deck.

The deck hands started arriving and soon the _Half Moon_ was a frenzy. However, it only last a moment because very soon the operatives were leaving the deck and heading back for their boats. In fact, it was such a bewildering change in direction, all at once, that it caught the men off guard. They almost did not know how to react.

They could soon hear a more powerful motor boat revving up behind the ship and start heading up river. Alexandra immediately climbed to the 40mm cannon and waited for the ship to get within her sights.

"That was quick, I wonder what that was all about." James said as he, Carl and Adam meet on deck.

"Pirates usually want to get something specific and do not usually have sense enough to leave. They left too quickly. I wonder what they wanted." Carl muttered.

"Wait...something's wrong..." Adam said, looking around.

"What?" James asked with furrowed brows.

Adam suddenly went pale and ran for the 40mm cannon.

"Alexandra, don't shoot, don't shoot!" Adam hollered frantically.

The enemy boat was lined up for the perfect shot.

"Adam, why the heck not?" Alexandra demanded, finger tightening around the trigger.

"They got Sven!" Adam screamed.


	22. Chapter 22

"_A learned person among ignorant people is like a live person among the dead."_

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq

"_Accept the truth from whatever source it comes."_

Rabbi Maimonides

"_Where there is is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."_

Saint Francis of Assisi

* * *

Joseph stepped out of the saloon early the next morning. The sun had just risen over the horizon and the street was painted orange from the rising dawn. There were a few people milling about but otherwise the streets appeared to be mostly empty. Everything was tranquil.

And then the wooden post next to him exploded in a cloud of splinters.

Ducking down, Joseph reached into his coat and pulled out a deceptively simple weapon. It was a plain leather sling. He immediately reached into another pocket and clutched several select stones he had been collecting along the journey.

Oh how easy it is to underestimate such a weapon.

The first slaver had his skull split open with a deft flick of his wrist.

Joseph quickly dashed back into the cover of the saloon as he realized he could be easily overwhelmed out there. No sooner was he inside that Isaac, David and Suda were returning fire with their assault rifles.

"Seriously Joseph, you need to get a gun." David chided, rifle kicking against his shoulder.

"Wasn't it one of your ancestors that made the sling famous?" Joseph bantered back, reaching for his bow.

"First off, I'm from the tribe of Levi, King David was from the tribe of Judah. Second, I don't see any giants out there." David retorted.

"I love how you guys feel this is an appropriate time to be having this discussion." Isaac chimed in.

"You _always_ feel it is an appropriate time for a discussion." Joseph returned.

"Could you all just shut up and focus on killing them? The last thing I want to hear before I die is you idiots jabbering!" Suda screeched, emptying her clip.

Claire was hiding behind the counter. For obvious reasons, the team had decided that she should not be armed after they captured her. Now, the reason just did not seem to be making any sense.

"Use this, no sense in you just hiding there." Isaac told her, tossing her his Chinese assault rifle before reaching for his Excelsior rifle.

"Where are you going?" David asked him.

"Getting a better view." Isaac replied, rushing up the stairs.

"They just keep coming!" Suda cried, noticing how there were still more slavers funneling in.

"David, what kind of tricks you got in that backpack of yours? Got any cherry bombs?" Joseph asked.

"Actually yes. Here, have a handful." David replied, tossing Joseph a bunch.

"What are you planning on doing with those?" Claire asked while popping off rounds.

"Having a little fun." Joseph answered, lighting a bomb and placing it in his sling.

It is detrimental to a slaver's health to have a cherry bomb explode in the air near their head.

The slavers understood that despite their superiority in numbers, they were in a bad situation when their comrades seemed to be inexplicably shot down in rapid order. A sniper was in the area and his weapon was obviously silenced.

They started taking shots into the second floor windows but it did little to deter the marksman.

It was then that they got the bright idea to take advantage of their numbers and charge in masse.

"David, vodka bottle!" Joseph shouted.

"Joseph, this is no time to get on the fire water." David shouted back.

"Just give it to me!" Joseph asserted.

David tossed him the alcoholic beverage to which Joseph immediately dropped two lit cherry bombs into it.

"Fire water indeed." Joseph smirked as he threw the cocktail out the door and into the crowd.

There was an explosion of fire and shattered glass, followed by agonized howls.

Suda stepped from her place and immediately started unloading round after round of buckshot into anyone who so much appeared to be standing.

"Suda, Suda, get back! You're getting too close!" David warned as he and Claire kept firing with their respective assault rifles. Joseph reached to grab another bottle of alcohol from the bar and immediately tossed out another molotov cocktail.

And quite abruptly everything went quiet.

"Did we get them all?" Isaac asked breathlessly, bounding down the stairs with his laser pistol and machete out.

"Sure looks like it." Joseph replied.

"Didn't your mother tell you not to run with sharp objects?" Claire chided Isaac playfully.

"She eventually learned to trust me with this blade." Isaac replied, returning his machete to its place.

"Suda...you're bleeding." David announced.

"What?" the mercenary asked in shock.

Sure enough there was a gaping red hole right through her left arm. Occasionally, some gunshot wounds happen so quickly that the victim does not notice it at all. This is especially compounded in the chaos of a long fire fight.

"Shoot...that's why it was getting so hard to control my shotgun." Suda muttered.

"Well, we're going to have to do something about that, you just can't leave it open like that." Isaac said.

"...Right." Suda muttered.

"Um...anyone here knows how to patch wounds like that?" David asked.

A very awkward silence descended on all of them.

–

Delta Sierra could not believe it.

He followed the small battalion of New Human Effort mutants for a couple days. It was not a difficult task as there was many of them and they certainly left a tell tale dust cloud due to their large numbers. Eventually, he could figure out exactly where they were going.

They all disappeared inside a vault.

So there he was standing right outside of the immovable solid steel door of a Vault Tec door. Since he had trailed the mutants at a distance, that and he wanted to take some time to get a feel for what might be ahead, he was not able to sneak into the vault with the rest of the group. At first he thought it was just going to be a short wait. After all, mutants would have to be going in and out of this facility all of the time, right? Alas, his assumption proved to be wrong.

It was quite ridiculous but for all of his technology he was forced to sit outside the vault and wait. Sure, the stealth suit was nice and granted him almost perfect invisibility but it wasn't going to open the door. He could not call up ENCOM and ask them to grant him access despite the complexity and long range of his communication system. His weapons were nice, even his silenced anti-material rifle was intimidating. Still, even that wasn't going to blow the door open.

He contemplated simply contacting ENCOM and letting them know the coordinates. However, he doubled back and decided he should confirm that this was indeed the actual origin of the New Human Effort. That and a nagging thought kept biting at him. He could not describe the feeling but something about the conversations he heard among the mutants along the road bothered him enough so that he convinced himself he should further investigate inside. He was not sure what he would find, much less exactly what he was looking for but he decided it was something he should attempt.

Once the darn door opened.

–

Julia was walking past Sven's workshop when she noticed the door open up followed by one of the New York rats scampering out. This one was a bit smaller than Rat and had a lighter brown coat. Finally, his snout wasn't as long and he had a white patch of fur on his belly. However, Julia recognized him as the same rat that had squeaked at them the other night and came closer to Rat's marker.

"Hi, Julia. I see you've met Whiskers." Sarah greeted, stepping out from the workshop.

"Whiskers?" Julia asked.

"Yes, this rat here. He seems to have quite a lot of whiskers so I figured it would be appropriate." Sarah shrugged.

Indeed, Whiskers did seem to have quite a bloom of long white hairs coming from his stubby snout.

Whiskers otherwise did not respond.

Julia glanced up to see several small patrol boats rocketing north along the Hudson river and wondered why they should be cruising so fast. They were Regulator boats and it made her wonder what kind of emergency they might be rushing to.

She also noticed Alexandra dock the _Half Moon _recklessly. If Julia had not known about Alexandra's years as a ship captain she would have thought the merchant shipper had lost her marbles.

It wasn't until she saw Carl bounding up to her that she immediately became concerned.

"Carl, what's wrong?" Julia asked.

"They got Sven!" Carl boomed.

Julia noticeably blinked as she tried to process the information.

"What do you mean they got Sven? Who got him?" Julia asked.

"River pirates, at least we think they were river pirates, but its too fishy." Carl breathed, bending down to catch his breath.

"Where's James and Adam?" Julia inquired, trying to keep herself from falling apart.

"They offloaded onto the shore last night, James taking the eastern side, Adam the west. They are combing the shores going north since that was the direction the pirates took off in. Francis has also sent his available Regulator teams to join in the search." Carl panted.

"Shoot...shoot...what are we going to tell Cindy?" Julia muttered, still feeling her blood drain from her face.

"...It's okay...I heard..." a voice whimpered.

They looked over to see an obviously distressed Cindy trembling just by them. The wrench she had been carrying to the workshop had dropped from her hand and was laying on the ground.

"Don't worry...we'll find him." Carl said.

He was also trying to reassure himself on this one.

–

"_Ow...my head..."_

"_**Burning...burning...why is the fire in here when it should be out there?"**_

"_S-s-set f-fire...w-who b-b-be these...bastards?"_

"_Where is everyone? At least I still have you guys to keep me company."_

If Sven always seemed to be a man of few words, it was because he always had another completely different conversation going on in his head. Right now, the different voices were all trying to make sense of their current predicament.

His head hurt, that much was obvious. An itchy burlap cloth had been placed of his head too because when he opened his eyes all he could see was dark, save for specks of light bleeding through the fabric.

And suddenly, everything came to an abrupt halt.

"_I think...I'm sitting down..."_

"_**Set fire to everything!" **_

"_Dude, you say that about, well, everything. Calm down a moment so I can figure this out."_

"_W-w-when you c-c-can see...s-slit their throats...THEN BURN THEM!"_

"_Dude...that's a bit too disturbing, even for you." _

Pain exploded all over the front of his face and he felt his head jerk backwards.

"Argh!" Sven finally let out, realizing he had been punched through the burlap.

Several more times, in total darkness he felt the blows land on him. The fabric was starting to irritate his breathing which only compounded his coughing issues. He was fairly convinced that he was going through hell at the moment.

"_Ugh...and to think its only going to get worse and I'm miserable enough as it is."_

"_**Savor the burn...savor it...make them feel it when it is over..."**_

"_N-n-napalm...C-cleanser...of-of the w-w-wicked...and flesh!" _

And just when he thought he would no longer be able to breathe he felt the burlap sack get ripped off his head. Alas, there was no relief for he was immediately confronted with a very bright light being shined into his eyes. It burned his unadjusted pupils, aggravating his already pained mind.

"_**Aaarrrggghhh...it burns!"**_

"_Y-y-yes! B-b-burning! The g-g-glorious l-luminance that m-m-must consume all!"_

"_Shut up so I can concentrate, you two!" _

"Who are you? What is your name?" a voice demanded angrily.

Sven spat some blood out of his mouth. He noticed the floor was dirty. Judging from the construction material being concrete, he decided they were probably underground. It certainly would be a nice place to hide an interrogation room.

How many run of the mill pirates had an interrogation room?

"Answer me!" the voice shouted and Sven felt something hard and metal slam into the back of his head.

Ironically, the cold steel plus the absolute agony of the blow silenced the voices for a moment.

Just a brief moment. Then they were screaming about setting the man afire from the inside out.

"M-my name? Right now its Pissed Off, that's my name." Sven snapped.

Sven was generally uncooperative when he was enraged.

Another punch landed across his jaw.

"_**Yes! Hurt some more, more concentration! So many reasons to set them afire."**_

"_T-t-they...are sad...s-s-so sad. W-w-why else...would they d-do such harm? T-t-they will be happier...as ashes!" _

"_Yeah, provided I survive first." _

Sven felt a fingernail get ripped from his finger.

That was just another breed of pain he had never quite felt before. Alas, despite all the echoing along the concrete walls, he knew one very depressing fact. No one was going to be hearing him outside the bunker. No matter how loud his screams were.

–

Once again the group was on the road, now knowing that they could at least identify themselves by the name of "Spike Dogs." Perhaps it was not the name they would have given themselves but it was not as if they had a choice anymore. At least Furious seemed to be scampering along pretty smugly.

For Suda, who was now sporting a heavy white bandaged wrapped around her arm, things were a bit different. She felt as if she might have grown just a little bit more. Just an hour or so ago she had to live through the ordeal of Isaac, David and Joseph putting their combined medical knowledge together to patch up her wound. In the end, they had done a good job but for Suda who had massive trust issues, this was a major step for her. Granted, the three Regulators had bickered and bantered the whole time and at one point Suda was sure she was going to bleed to death or lose her arm, but now she felt almost as good as new.

She couldn't say she trusted them yet, certainly not Claire, but perhaps she was getting to the point where she was ready to give them a chance.

Joseph meanwhile stopped and squinted ahead. They had been following what had once been a major highway. The pavement had become decrepit and the forgotten hulls of ruined cars littered the landscape. Still, his attention was more on the large, faded sign that was next to the road.

"Isaac, are you literate?" Joseph asked. It was not an unusual question. This day and age not everyone could read, much less write.

"Of course." Isaac replied, turning from his conversation with Claire to look at Joseph.

"Get your scope out, read that sign for me." Joseph said, pointing in the distance.

Isaac shouldered his rifle and pointed the lens in the proper direction. He got everyone's curiosity when he suddenly smiled.

"What?" Claire asked.

"It says 'Washington DC.' We're getting close." Isaac replied.

–

"_...This...hurts...so much...How can I even feel anything anymore?" _

"_**Stuff a couple cherry bombs down their throats...plant a landmine in their back pocket...Set fire to yourself and chase them..."**_

"_...F-f-f-FIRE! EVERYTHING BURNS!" _

Sven's internal conversation was interrupted by yet another question.

"How many Regulators are in Albany? What are its defenses? Answer me!" the interrogator shouted before taking a tong and picking up a glowing, red hot pipe from the fire. He held it ominously close to Sven's face.

"...You're heating it wrong...not enough oxygen, the fire is not heating up as fast as it could be." Sven said tiredly.

He heard the sound of skin sizzling on his arm.

At this point, he was too exhausted to scream, he only groaned.

"The sooner you talk, the sooner we can call this over." the interrogator bellowed.

Sven let his eyes roll around in his head. He honestly had no clue who these people were and they had not given any clues to their identity. He had been beaten countless time, he was certain he had bruises all over him and there was no telling how many bleeding wounds had been inflicted on him. The had had a little fun with a dull switch blade back there. The burning rod was just the latest addition. He also figured he may have lost two or three fingernails.

"Y-you won't let me out...you'll just kill me..." Sven mumbled miserably.

"Wouldn't you rather just end it all now instead of dragging this on and on...come on, _whacko_...how many Regulators are at Albany?" the interrogator pressed.

Sven opened an eye and glared at him.

Sure, even Sven knew he was messed up in the head but he had grown used to Adam, James and Carl not bringing it up. Sure, he was an eccentric but it rarely came up with his friends. They treated him as an equal.

But for it to be used as an insult?

That was their first mistake.

"You can kill me...but if you do...every Regulator in New York will be hunting for you...and they will take you down...and every last one of the Liberators will come to destroy your filth...and their children too, will hunt you down...and _burn_ you..." Sven growled.

Sven got punched in the face again.

Second mistake. You shouldn't punch Sven when he's really angry.

Third mistake was when the interrogator left the room. After all that harsh torture, Sven was finally numb to the pain inflicted on him.

Raging against the chains locked his arms, something finally snapped inside Sven. Either his whole being had become pain or he could no longer register the agony anymore. Regardless, he could feel a pressure building on one of his digits but it didn't matter. He wanted out from those shackles.

"_**Fire...Fire! Burn them all! Commit them all to the flames! Pretty fire, pretty fire."**_

"_E-e-explosions...blow up your body...t-t-take them in the blast...I-i-it shall be...glorious!" _

And finally, a couple bones in Sven's hand and fingers broke. It mangled his hand but allowed his left hand to slip from the shackle. Fortunately, this was completely unknown to the interrogator since the man had left the room Sven he made his threat. Perhaps they were switching hands again. Sven decided to hide escape. He had to execute this right.

"_Now if only you two other voices would shut up for a moment..."_ Sven thought.

Just that moment the same interrogator returned. The two glared at each other for a moment before the captor reached for the fire again and pulled out the same glowing rod that had been sitting in the flames. Again, he held the glowing metal just inches from Sven's face.

"How long do you want to drag this out, Liberator? Don't you just want to die?" the captor sneered.

"No..." Sven murmured.

"No?" the interrogator asked in mock shock.

"I want to _burn._" Sven growled with a deranged smile.

The interrogator had only a moment to experience fear in the insane light glowing behind Sven's eyes before something rather unexpected happened.

Sven's now free right hand, complete with the other empty shackle, reached out and grasped the unheated part of the metal rod. The interrogator was caught by surprise. Meanwhile, Sven could hear every single voice in his head starting to come out from every single dark corner of his mind. They were all saying the same thing.

"_**Burn."**_

Fourth mistake was giving a heated rod to a blacksmith. Sven tapped the rod against a nearby hard surface, immediately giving it a slanted, deadly edge. New found strength fueled by rage, and just a tad bit of insanity, drove the heated spike upwards into the underside of the man's chin and into his brain.

By now he could hear his other interrogators yelling. They had probably noticed something going wrong by now.

Fifth mistake was leaving his breathing mask in the room with him.

Last mistake? They also left a flamer in there too.

–

Joseph tested the keenness of the edge on his tomahawk. Finding it still acceptable, he returned it to its proper spot on his belt before tuning back into the camp fire conversation. As usual, David was doing the majority of the talking. However, Joseph chose the most opportune time to return his attention. David had decided to ask him a question.

"So Joe, tell us, why did you want to join the Regulators? You never told us and you even said the people of the Nation handle their own security." David asked.

Joseph hesitated.

"You see your fair share of bad things when hunting." Joseph finally responded.

"That has got to be the most specific answer I've ever seen." David replied sarcastically.

"Witticism aside, he's right, Joe. Care to elaborate?" Isaac encouraged.

"Raiders and passer bys don't know just how much they're often watched by Nation hunters out on patrol. Because of our small numbers, we can't really intervene if people get attacked by raiders. The only exceptions I've seen were when it had to do with wild animals we could use or if it was done by a raider gang that was particularly bothersome. I was one of the best hunters from my tribe and it always bothered me that I could not help some of those people in danger. So, I asked my elders for their counsel. They were a bit hesitant but decided if I was set on it then perhaps it could be a good learning experience." Joseph explained.

"So you went and signed up?" Isaac asked.

"Sort of. I wanted to see how good guys were first, so I stalked a Regulator squad passing by one day." Joseph said.

David, Isaac, Suda and Claire stared at him.

"Weren't you worried about getting shot at? Regulators don't take getting stalked very well." Claire said.

Suda cast a sly glance at her, and felt certain that Claire was speaking from experience. Isaac, having read between the lines, also decided to ignore it as well.

"Oh, they don't. Fortunately this team must have worked in the area because after awhile I could tell that they knew I was following them, they just pretended not to notice. A couple yards later and finally one of them called out and told me to show myself. I did and explained my endeavor. The rest from there is history." Joseph shrugged.

Furious let out a tired yawn.

"Now, since we have an excellent opportunity here, can you tell us how much our friend Isaac has changed? What was he like when he was younger?" David asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yes, did he talk as much then as he does now?" Joseph inquired with only slightly feigned annoyance.

"Yes, that hasn't changed." Claire giggled.

Isaac simply rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, perhaps you're a little more confident than what you used to be. Otherwise no, you haven't changed. You're still a nice, idealistic guy." Claire said.

Isaac simply shrugged.

"Not to be a prick...but how did you get mixed up with Talons? I'm a merc and I knew not to sign up with those guys." Suda asked seriously from her corner.

"Ha...ha...yeah. Well, after Isaac and I broke up, I made some new friends with the other kids in Albany. It made sense at the time. Isaac would be away training at the Brotherhood and I couldn't handle the thought of a long distance relationship. Well, realizing that there wasn't much we wanted to do in Albany, and therefore no future for us, my friends decided it would be a good idea to sign on with a mercenary group. We knew nothing of Talon Company, we just decided that everyone seemed so scared of them. We decided that would be a good intimidation factor so that's why we signed up." Claire explained.

"I guess Talon Company does need to sucker people in somehow." Suda grumbled.

"Look, I'm not proud of it but I needed the caps. Besides, my father died just a year or so before I left. There was nothing left for me in Albany." Claire retorted.

Isaac glanced at her but said nothing.

"Well, you guys decide how the shifts will go tonight. I'm getting some rest. Someone wake me up when its my turn." David announced, plopping on his back.

"You never take first shift, do you?" Joseph grumbled.

"Quit the kvetch, not like you guys never nominate me to." David replied.

–

James and Adam kept walking parallel to each other on either side of the river, doing their best to keep the same pace. It was a little difficult as the Hudson was a bit wide and they could barely see each other. Their best reference point were the two Regulator patrol boats that were keeping alongside them. Each boat kept as close to pace as each Liberator and that was how they could all keep track of each other.

On the western shore, Adam was watching both the shore and the sands that swept inland. He figured that if the raider ship had landed, it would have to be stowed up or beached somewhere. Working ships and boats were a very expensive investment these days. No one simply scuttled a fast moving boat with a working engine lightly.

They suddenly heard a dull explosion followed by a noxious cloud of black smoke rising into the air. The source could not have been far from them, only a little further up the river. Adam could tell it was on the eastern side and considering that the boat closest to James was speeding up, Adam guessed that James was now running . The other boat was making its way towards Adam to pick him up and get him across the river.

James was certain that if there was an explosion, Sven had something to do with it. Even if their buddy was missing, the fact that there was any explosion was too convenient.

Adam was just stepping off his boat and dashing through the shallows when James saw the distant figure stumbling towards them. The man had emerged from the remains of a bunker. Its metal door was blown off its hinges and fire and smoke still poured out of the opening.

On the ground behind the man lay a discarded flamer.

"Sven? Sven! What happened to you?" James demanded, finally figuring out who he was looking at.

Adam flat out cursed.

"Sven, who did this to you?" Adam demanded as Sven collapsed on the ground in front of James.

The medic was quickly trying to figure out which wound to tend to first. The fact that there seemed to be so many seemed to confuse him initially. In the end, he decided to go with trying to stop the bleeding on the numerous flesh wounds he could find.

"No...clue...they're all ash now..." Sven replied between coughs.

"Lets get you on the boat and back home. This is no place for someone in such a poor state." James said.

–

General Omedea listened to what his Director of Intelligence had to report to him.

"Our operative team simply went silent. They managed to capture one of the Liberators and started interrogating him but they have not been responding for the last couple hours." the subordinate explained.

"I assume something got them then. Probably even the Liberators. Were they able to get any information?" General Omedea demanded.

"Before they went silent, they said the prisoner made a reference to the fact that the Liberators have children. They said that was the only thing they could get out of him."

General Omedea smiled.

"Wonderful. Send the spies out. I want to know where these children are." General Omedea ordered.

"General, I'm sure these 'children,' if they do exist, are fully grown."

"That means nothing! These Liberators were the most righteous paragons who tried to build something out of the wasteland because they wanted to help people. People with personalities like that are going to have a very weak point, their very own children!" General Omedea barked.

–

The Boys, Juan, Otto, Anthony and Gerald were lounging at the outside bar of the Albany tavern. It had been the usual day for each of them on their respective patrols. Furthermore, their duties training the Vault security team had been completed a couple days ago.

"Think those vaulties will do a good job in a stand up fight?" Anthony asked his friends.

"Provided the sight of their enemies doesn't make them piss their pants first, sure, I'd say they have a chance." Juan replied, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"After we started training them with the proper weapons they seemed to have an affinity for their aiming started improving rapidly. They'll make it." Otto suggested.

"Otto, aiming is all you care about." Gerald muttered.

"Well it _is_ important." Otto shrugged.

"Gerald, all you need to do is point and shoot. Heck, half the time you're just firing to make a lot of noise so that the bad guys keep their heads down." Anthony snickered.

"And you guys depend on that a lot." Gerald mumbled.

"Hey guys, I think someone has a message for us." Juan interrupted, spitting his cigarette out as he noticed another Regulator walking directly towards them.

"You guys Juan, Gerald, Anthony and Otto?" the messenger asked.

"That's us." Anthony replied.

"Good. Mark sent you this message. It details your mission. You are to get started immediately." the Regulator messenger explained, handing them a wrapped parcel before leaving back for the docks.

Anthony furiously opened the parcel and started reading. The others waited anxiously around him to be updated.

"Well, what does it say?" Gerald asked.

"Mark says that the caravan office reported traffic heading north and south coming to a standstill. Lab 18 has decided to step in and is actually ferrying caravans through the air. This is driving up prices and slowing down traffic. All reports point to a problem spot at a pass in the Adirondack Mountains. We're being sent as a forward scout team to figure out what's going on." Anthony reported.

"Sounds like we're going to have to pack for the long haul then." Gerald muttered.

"Darn...going to have to get off the cigarettes for awhile then." Juan mumbled.

"You better. I wouldn't want your puffing giving away our position." Otto said.

* * *

_Author's Note: If anyone wanted to know what's going on in Sven's head, well, there's your answer. Reviewers are asking very good questions and all I can say is that if I do not answer your question through the story, I will set the record straight (as possible) when the story is complete. In the meantime, if it does not seem I'm answering a question, don't think I'm ignoring you. We just haven't gotten to the answer yet! _


	23. Chapter 23

"_Reason well from the beginning and then there will never be any need_

_To look back with confusion and doubt."_

_-_Dalai Lama

* * *

Delta Sierra felt sweat starting to pour from his forehead. He knew he was under a translucent shroud from the influence of his stealth suit. Still, it provided little comfort from the sight that was literally just one foot away from him.

An army of the New Human Effort mutants.

He was waiting by the vault door when it suddenly groaned and started to slide open. Initially he was excited. This would be his chance to get inside. However, just before he was about to sneak in under his stealth suit's veil, he quickly stepped to the side. It would be physically impossible to sneak in because a whole army of super mutants started pouring out from the vault.

And now they were marching right passed him. He prayed none would look down and to the side. Even if they did, if they did not pay attention, they would just see a trick of the eye, probably just heated air rising from the ground. Still, this was close enough for one of them to figure it out…

The mutants were marching rank and file. He had been sitting in this spot for minutes now and still the mutants kept pouring from the vault. Ignoring the part of his brain that wanted to panic, a more contemplative side to him tried to get his attention.

"_Think, Daniel…where have you seen this before?" _

…Over twenty years ago…when those mutants poured into New York City. ENCOM had received reports of them arriving but could not pin down their origin. Did that wave of mutant invasion originate from this vault?

Something else started to disturb Delta Sierra. At first he did not notice it and when he did he tried to write it off. Alas, as each rank of mutants passed him, and they were many that passed him by now, he could no longer ignore it.

The mutants were sparsely equipped. Most of them only carried a single hunting rifle if any weapon at all.

What were they doing?

"_I could radio ENCOM…tell them to drop the Lucifer projectile onto this army. Wait, I'm still here and I don't fancy getting killed in the blast myself. Plus ENCOM would probably want confirmation that this vault is still spawning the mutants…" _

Silently, breathlessly, Delta Sierra activated a camera on his helmet with a shaky finger. It immediately started to give a live video feed to ENCOM. The information officers and generals present immediately received a location indicator but more importantly saw exactly what Delta Sierra was looking at.

This is how a bad day at ENCOM starts.

* * *

Isaac woke up and sleepily brushed the dust from his hair. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Glancing over, he could still see David and Joseph peacefully snoring. Furious looked, for all the world, like a gently throbbing pincushion. Wearily, he glanced over to see that Suda was awake. Apparently, she had the last shift.

…Where was Claire?

"Your ex took off." Suda announced plainly.

"Wait…what?" Isaac asked, still trying to navigate through the fog of fatigue.

"She took off early. She said that since she was a former Talon and DC still has some Talon activity, she didn't want to take the chance of being recognized walking with Regulators. It could have marked her for a death warrant from both sides. She said she was going to try and make it to Rivet City to try and live a quiet life." Suda explained, at one point rolling her eyes.

"Wait…she just left? She just left by herself?" Isaac asked, his heart starting to hammer as he was waking up.

"She had to do it, Isaac. She still has that assault rifle she took from the town if you're worried about her being defenseless." Suda pointed out.

Isaac sat back down and dropped into a numb thousand yard stare.

Suda sighed in exasperation.

"Seriously, Isaac. She doesn't care for you the way you do for her. Maybe she was a nice girl back in the day. Maybe she'll get better someday down the road. For now though, don't get hung up on her. Also, she said that you should not go looking for her. It would be too risky." Suda added.

She could see just a tad bit of hurt register behind Isaac's eyes.

"If it's any consolation she told me to tell you that she apologizes for leaving like this. She said 'Maybe we'll meet again…someday.'" Suda muttered, exasperated that she had to repeat it.

"Hmmm…" Isaac muttered.

"Just remember, don't go chasing her." Suda reminded.

"I can't believe you just let her go. You weren't exactly her friend for the time that you knew her." Isaac replied.

"She was set on going and she was prepared. She even drew a bit of leather around her face to help disguise her. As much as I don't like her I'm a merc too and I understood where she was coming from. I might hate her but that doesn't mean I'd wish the wrath of Talon Company on her." Suda shrugged.

"Hmm…right…" Isaac mumbled numbly, feeling an old wound open deep inside him.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Isaac, don't take it personally." Suda growled, sensing what was going on inside him.

"Right…" Isaac muttered distractedly, still sitting on the ground and staring into the void.

And, quite inexplicably, Isaac stood up and readjusted his two rifles on his back.

"Well…not like it hasn't happened before." Isaac muttered.

"Whatever." Suda said, rolling her eyes.

It took some explaining to Joseph and David what had occurred but in the end they also accepted it. Without further ado, after a quick breakfast the group was back on the road. For awhile, the continued on in silence, all of them keeping their eyes peeled for any dangers that might be watching them.

"So what do we do when we get to DC? Find the local Regulator HQ and ask about a place where we can find growing vegetation and seeds?" David asked curiously.

"My people have heard the rumors. I was told that the Regulator HQ would be on the outskirts of DC, towards the north east so we should come across it as we're getting closer towards the city. It'll be a start." Joseph replied.

"Oh, my parents told me to ask around for a Mina Jordan when we get there. She was an old Regulator friend of theirs. She might be able to help." Isaac added.

* * *

"So what's the word, doc?" Carl asked curiously as James stepped out from Sven's room.

James glanced at him for a moment before looking at the others, specifically Adam, Julia and Alexandra. He ran his mechanical prosthetic through his hair nervously, trying to formulate his thoughts. It would not have surprised anyone if he sprouted a new gray hair or two from what he saw.

"What's wrong, James?" Julia asked in concern.

"Out with it, man." Adam said.

"He'll live. He suffered an awful lot of abuse but I expect him to make a recovery though he'll be on bed rest for a long time." James reported.

"So what's bothering you?" Julia inquired.

"He was tortured." James shrugged.

"James, you should know that's par for the course with raiders and pirates." Carl replied.

James shook his head.

"No, there's something wrong with this kind. Pirate and raider torture is blunt, crude. The torture of a raider or pirate is grotesque and usually kills its victim quickly. Sven's torturers made sure not to make anything close to a fatal wound while maximizing the pain that would be inflicted. They wanted him to hurt and hurt badly but stay alive. They were scientific about it." James reported.

"Occasionally you get a raider that's smarter than most." Adam suggested.

"We've served in the wastes for over twenty years, Adam. Tell me, did you ever think of ripping a guy's fingernails out to interrogate him?" James asked.

"Hmm…no." Adam admitted.

"These guys were smart and had access to pre-war information. That's a famous torture technique from the old world if the books I read are true." James reported.

"So you're thinking Yeohart?" Julia asked.

"We found him on the Hierarchy side of the river." James pointed out.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the whole group.

"We should go back and check that bunker. Maybe we can find a clue." Adam suggested.

"Provided our pyromaniac friend didn't incinerate it all." Carl muttered.

"Part of me hopes that we do find evidence but I wouldn't be too sorrowful if Sven did melt it all. Lord knows he earned it." James said.

* * *

Delta Sierra could feel his heart starting to slow down but only just a little bit. The mutant army was still walking past him but he started to hope that the procession of the ugly brutes was almost complete. The ranks filing past him seemed to be dwindling. Still, the fact that he had been sitting there for well over fifteen minutes meant that there was a massive army of super mutants out there and now they were heading back west.

Towards New York.

He heard a voice chime in over his transmitter. He had to remind himself that only he could hear it.

"Delta Sierra, this is ENCOM. We have identified the New Human Effort general Gheemath within those ranks. Still, you must confirm that this is the vault that is the point of origin. Specialists are starting to theorize that this is the same vault that spawned the army that hit New York City two decades ago."

Delta Sierra glanced over and noticed the last mutant shuffle out. Sneaking quietly but swiftly, he slipped in through the doorway before the giant steel cog could close shut. Gathering his surroundings to make sure he was alone, the Enclave agent snuck into a secluded corner to answer.

"I was starting to think the same thing, ENCOM. What about the army out there? Shouldn't you send resources to stop them?" Delta Sierra asked.

"Negative, we don't have the resources to spare. Our coalition forces with the Brotherhood in New York City will have to repulse them provided they managed to make it that far. The mutants did not seem well equipped." ENCOM radioed back.

"Considering the mutants' sparse supplies, you would think that this is a one way mission. They're not even equipped to be an occupational force. There has to be something more to it." Delta Sierra replied.

"Let us handle that, agent. In the meantime, confirm that this is the proper spawning facility and then get out of the area before giving us the go ahead. The Lucifer projectile punctures a massive damage radius on the surface." ENCOM explained.

"Couldn't I just slip out, call for Athena to get me out of here and you could drop that projectile and take out the army at the same time?" Delta Sierra asked.

"Negative, agent. We only have a limited number of those projectiles. We're not going to waste it until we have confirmation that this is indeed _the _facility. Satellite based resources are not to be used lightly, agent." The ENCOM communication officer explained, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Very well, Delta Sierra out." The agent replied.

Glancing at the dark and dim surroundings of the metal hole he was in, he could not help but experience a strong sense of dread. It would not be a long stretch of the imagination to think that he had just stepped into his own grave. Had he just stepped into the mouth of hell?

* * *

Joseph, Isaac, David and Suda stepped into a rather sizable looking shack. The building didn't seem like much on the outside and for a moment the group had wondered if it was indeed the Regulator HQ for Washington DC. All of them had their doubts but Joseph insisted that it indeed fit the description, especially the geographical location so they went inside.

Upon stepping in, they found the inside just as humble looking on the outside. Still, as if to relieve their doubts, they found other men and women wearing the same colored duster they were. All of them exchanged welcoming glances although no one spoke for a moment.

Suda felt just a bit unsettled as she felt a few uncomfortable stares go her way. After all, there was a tense relationship between the Regulators and other mercenary companies. One day they might be fighting alongside each other and the next they might be fighting each other.

"Can I help you boys? You don't look like you're from around here." one of the Regulators finally asked, a middle aged man who seemed to be familiar with the locals.

"We're from the New York area." Isaac replied.

"New York…my, that is quite a distance. What brings you boys from all the way out there?" the man inquired.

"We were sent on a mission from our grandmaster. We're suppose to find an area that is teeming with life, trees." Joseph explained.

"Ah, yes. We've been hearing reports and rumors of that place and still no one can pin down the location." The man said.

The Spike Dogs glanced at each other nervously.

"Is there a Mina Jordan here? Would she know how to get us there?" Isaac asked.

"Mina is probably down in Rivet City if she's not on patrols. You can look for her there. However, if there is one person who could give you a better idea on where to look, well, there really is only one person who has wandered all over the DC area." The regulator answered.

"And who would that be?" David asked.

The older Regulator took a moment, as if to confirm a thought he had in his head. Sitting back, he finally gave the only answer he was certain would be correct.

"The Lone Wanderer."

* * *

Anthony, Juan, Otto and Gerald moved at a fast walk through a shallow pass within the Adirondack Mountains. They had been a day into the journey and they could already tell things were taking a turn for the worse. They had heard the news of Lab 18 taking over the shipping routes, flying merchants and their wares over the areas too dangerous for travel. This cut down profit and slowed trade down to a trickle but it was better than the alternative. Every now and then they could hear the unearthly drone of the helicopter rotors pass overhead. It was a bittersweet moment every time that happened.

The Boys were finding that there were still some merchants who were unfortunately still on the ground despite the change in policy.

It occurred when they spotted three men stumbling towards them, heading out of the pass. All of them looked haggard, clutching their weapons yet looking terribly exhausted. The Regulators were certain that the expressions they wore were ones that said that they had just seen hell.

"You men, what's wrong? What happened?" Anthony asked.

The arrivals stopped but still kept looking around as if expecting trouble to spring from any given direction.

"You wouldn't want to continue up that pass…Hierarchy and Western Coalition have been skirmishing all through there. The pass is basically no man's land." One of them men explained.

"Are you merchants?" Gerald asked.

"_Were_ merchants. Not anymore. If the Western Coalition doesn't claim your goods…something else will." The other former merchants replied.

"You mean the Hierarchy?" Otto asked.

At this, the merchants did not even respond. They simply glanced at each other and then continued stumbling away, trying to put as much distance between them and the pass.

"You'll see." One of them warned in parting, not even bothering to turn around.

The Boys exchanged a look of concern before cautiously continuing forward.

First they could hear the isolated gunshots. That urged them to quicken their pace a little. However, it was Otto who quickly picked up on something else. He hesitated to ask but eventually he had to voice his thoughts.

"Can you guys…smell that?" Otto asked.

"Smell what?" Anthony inquired, still running low to the ground.

"It's…hard to describe, but it's not good." Otto muttered, trying to decipher what was hitting his nostrils.

And eventually, they all could smell it.

Before any of them could inquire what might be causing it, they stumbled up a hill that was overlooking the western side of the pass. Approaching slowly since they could hear gunfire close by, they cautiously looked over the top. Anthony pulled out a pair of binoculars to see ahead while Otto peered through his scope.

Both of them immediately regretted trying to get a better look. Gerald and Juan didn't have such implements and did not even want them.

The sight they saw and the stench that filled their nose would have made poet of the _Inferno_ quake in terror.

The Western Coalition and the Hierarchy forces had dug trenches on their respective side of the pass. The depression that was the old caravan highway had become littered almost clogged, with human wreckage. Body upon body were piled onto each other. Some had simply become chewed beyond recognition from the ferocity of war. Not even carrion hunters bothered to pick at their remains.

It baffled the Boys on how simple war had caused this much destruction when they suddenly realized that indeed there was a third killer in the midst of the armies.

Deep behind both lines, Hierarchy and Western Coalition doctors had been piling up the bodies and amputated limbs for lack of areas to dispose of them. Upon closer examination of the grotesque heaps of human corpses, Otto could detect that many of the victims had succumbed to the New York Scourge, the Red Plague.

Rotting blood, festering limbs and decomposing corpses as well as the smell of burning flesh was becoming altogether unbearable. Men armed with flamethrowers, instead of fighting their enemies, were sent to torch the nightmarish hills of corpses and limbs as a desperate bid of disposal. They were even losing that war.

The blood, gore, rot and oil ran like the river Styx through the pass.

"What the hell happened here?" Juan muttered in disturbed awe.

"Hell." Gerald replied.

"This is way over our heads…we got to report back to Mark about this, there is nothing we can do." Anthony observed.

"There's no way any caravan could get through this. Even if the armies did not fire on them the disease would get them." Otto said numbly.

"Wait…" Gerald warned, holding up a hand before pointing at a scene playing out below them.

A bunch of Western Coalition raiders had held up a caravan group crazy enough to try and attempt to pass. It appeared the Western Coalition was closer to the entrance so they had the most control over the traffic trying to get through. The under raiders seemed savage enough but they listened to their overseer who was diplomatically talking to the caravan members. It was probably his presence alone that was keeping the under raiders from turning the scene into a blood bath.

"Our Warlord apologizes for this inconvenience but our men are desperate for supplies. You can even _keep_ your caps, we just need the supplies. Again, we apologize." The overseer said, sincerity etched on his face while the raider minions wolfishly tore off supplies from the pack animals.

"This is an outrage! How are we even going to get back?" one of the merchants demanded.

"You may come back the way you came or you have the option of surrendering into slavery. The Warlord has decreed that anyone in slavery for three years will have earned his freedom and then may become a resident of the Western Coalition or leave in peace. Those are your two options." The overseer shrugged.

The disgruntled merchants shook their heads in disgust and frustration but none of them opted for the route to slavery. They would have to scrounge for supplies on the way back but they decided it was better to risk dying free than to go into chains.

"Wonderful." Anthony muttered, watching the whole scene.

"I think we're getting in way over our heads." Gerald replied.

"Guys…lets get out of here. Anyone else here worried about the winds of that plague catching us?" Otto demanded.

James, Adam and Carl stepped off the Regulator patrol boat and wadded from the shallows to the shore. They quickly spotted the remains of the bunker where Sven had been interrogated. Despite a day having gone by they could still spot faint trails of smoke still rising from inside the underground facility. For a moment, they were unsure how to proceed.

"So...we just go inside and look for clues?" Carl asked.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Adam replied.

"I'm not sure we'll find much inside but we don't have much of a choice." James said.

The three men stood outside the gaping hole where the door once rested. They were unsure how Sven had pulled it off but the pyromaniac had managed to blast the door off its hinges from the inside. The amazing part was how he had survived the blast that he set off while he was still _inside_ the bunker.

The dark enclosed space that was still emitting smoke sent a chill down the their spines. None of them would claim to be superstitious but there was something to be said about some place that just seemed to have too many bad memories floating about them. This seemed to be such a place. Who was to say Sven was the only person interrogated here? How many dozens more had been dragged into this hole and quite possibly never came out?

James noticed a grotesquely charred corpse sprawled on the stairway. He assumed it to be that of one of the men that had captured Sven. Still, any human body burned beyond recognition and left out even for a day in the wastes was not a pleasant sight.

"Hmm, guys, my eyes are not so great. Maybe I should just wait out here and keep watch." Carl offered sheepishly.

"Chicken." Adam muttered on his breath.

"Say what?" Carl asked.

"Nothing. Alright, James, it's you and me down there." Adam said.

James said nothing but pulled out a flashlight and took a very nervous step down into the hole. Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, he took a moment to let his small flashlight try to paint his surroundings. The walls were covered in soot and scorch marks. He tried to ignore the bodies that were scattered all over the place. He noticed what he could only guess was the interrogation room. Inside, there was a single body slumped over with a metal rod driven through the man's chin and presumably into the brain.

James could not find any clues to suggest if these people were affiliated with any one group. Still, he could not help but shake the feeling that too many evils had been perpetrated in this place.

Adam did not feel quite right. He could also feel the chill running through his bones. In fact, something told him there was something amiss. He could practically feel it. He started to remove his silenced pistol from its holster.

"Adam, there's nothing here." James said, hearing the sound of metal rubbing against the leather.

"…Right…" Adam said mindlessly.

He could hear voices whispering in his head. He couldn't tell exactly what they were saying but they were close and they spoke of danger. Things started swirling in the dark and Adam knew that he did not feel safe anymore. Having lived and fought in the wastes for so long his instincts took over.

He disappeared under the veil of a stealth boy.

James turned around and suddenly found himself alone. Still, he could feel a presence with him. Something did not feel right.

"Adam?" James asked.

Nothing.

"Adam?" James persisted. That's when he moved his flashlight a bit.

He started seeing shadows that did not belong.

"Adam, why are you in a stealth boy? There's nothing here." James said.

Silence.

"Adam?" James insisted.

"Adam, darn it, I can't see you." James stated.

Adam suddenly materialized before his eyes, his Chinese sword drawn and, at least to James' liking, its edge too close to him.

"…Adam…talk to me, what's going on…?" James asked with a dry mouth, eyeing the blade nervously.

Honestly, Adam was not quite sure himself. James stared hard at the man, trying to watch his comrade's eyes. It was hard to tell in the dark but James was wondering if he was starting to pick up on a few things.

"I…I don't know…this place gives me the creeps. Are you done searching?" Adam asked, getting out of his haze.

"…Yeah…I'm done looking. We can go." James responded quietly.

James wasn't talking about the bunker.

General Omedea sat at his desk, his brow furrowed deep. Casualties were mounting and resources were being spread to their limits. He now had to consider either instituting a draft or quite possibly a tactical withdrawal if things continued this way for awhile more. He could only take quiet comfort in the fact that their enemies were also suffering. The whole affair had become one long war of attrition.

He needed something to shift the balance in their favor.

* * *

"General, our spies have given their latest report. It is something that will be of interest to you." His head of Hierarchy Intelligence reported, stepping into his office.

"Report." General Omedea commanded.

"We've found the location of the Liberator's children. One is nowhere in the area but there are two still within the state."

General Omedea smiled.

Ante up.


	24. Chapter 24

"_An unjust law is no law at all."_

-St. Augustine

* * *

"So…that's Project Purity?" David asked, looking off into the distance.

The trek south across the Capital Wasteland had been rather uneventful. If there was anything the Spike Dogs could comment on it was the fact that there seemed to be so many people in a small area. The population density seemed to be much higher than any place back in New York. It was clear that either DC had a head start on its rebuilding progress or it had some dedicated helpers.

Or as some would say _a _dedicated helper.

"Well, they told us to look for this Lone Wanderer person at Megaton and then those people told us to go look here at Project Purity." Isaac shrugged.

"…How can anyone live in a crater gouged out of the earth by an undetonated bomb?" Joseph muttered.

"They said it was disarmed." David reminded.

"Still, Joseph has a point. Disarmed or not, I mean, what happens if something…connects inside? Haha…my friend Sven would have had a field day with it." Isaac chuckled.

"Who's Sven?" David asked.

"Uh…a…family friend. He was a bit messed up in head but he taught me everything I needed to know about explosives and flamethrowers. Man, mom never really liked it either." Isaac said, still trying to hide his family ties.

"If you want to talk about messed up in the head, what about those Church of the Atom people?" Suda offered.

"Right…I'm not one for knocking peoples' beliefs…but really…an atomic weapon?" David chuckled.

"I think it was more of an abstract." Isaac suggested.

"Could we just go inside the darn building?" Joseph blurted impatiently.

"Uh sure, but you want to just waltz in there with all those Brotherhood of Steel guys standing around. They don't look too friendly. I don't think they'd shoot us on the spot but I don't think they'd be too keen on letting us inside either." David said nervously.

Isaac let out a sigh.

"Hold on, let me see if I can talk to them." Isaac said quietly, walking forward.

Joseph, David, Suda followed behind Isaac, wondering what exactly he was going to do.

Furious waddled along, hot on the heels of the group he'd been following for a while now and noticed how breezy everything felt lately. It felt as if his quills were becoming sparse, as if he'd shed more than usual. The spike dog vaguely wondered if he should be more wary of his travelling companions, but considering that he still had enough spikes to protect him, he didn't become overly concerned

The group followed Isaac as he boldly walked up to two fully armored Brotherhood knights and the scribe who seemed to be overseeing the operations.

"May we pass? Could we enter the facility?" Isaac asked.

"Only authorized personnel are allowed inside. Nothing against you Regulators but I don't think there are going to be any raiders in there." The scribe responded.

"We have business with the Lone Wanderer and we were told to look here." Isaac explained.

"I'm finding that hard to believe." The scribe replied, folding his arms in front of his chest with skepticism.

"Fine, you would probably find me as authorized personnel anyway. I'm still part of the Brotherhood." Isaac asserted, reaching around his neck to remove his Brotherhood holotag.

The scribe took it and immediately punched the information into his computer terminal. He seemed surprise to see that the data he got back all came in verified. He even triple checked Isaac's visual identification.

"A Brotherhood of Steel knight in Regulator's clothes from a chapter all the way in New York is down here? Wait…aren't you the son of Scribe Julia Kail-Vanderbraun, that long running wasteland survival researcher?" the scribe inquired, raising an eyebrow at Isaac.

Isaac noticeably seemed to slouch as if trying to hide.

"Erm…ahem…yeah." Isaac said quickly.

The scribe and the knights all exchanged a glance before either shrugging or nodding.

"Very well, you may pass." The scribe replied.

* * *

Mark could feel a headache starting to build in his skull. His office had become a continuous stream of merchants either stating their grievances over the difficulty caused by the lost trade routes or flat out blaming him and the Regulators over the war. In the end, Mark reminded himself that they were not actually blaming him; they just needed someone, anyone, to yell at. The real people to blame here were the Western Coalition and the Hierarchy. Even without them the New York Plague was still playing havoc right along the main trade route. Passing into areas in either the Western Coalition or the Hierarchy were out of the question. With the current state of the war both sides were more interested in "requisitioning" rather than "trading."

And time and time again it was proven that Regulators were vigilantes not soldiers. Liberty Island was the first reminder when so many of the Regulators were killed in a stand up battle. The whole conflict between the W.C and the Hierarchy with the Regulator caravans caught in the middle only served as a further reminder.

And now the merchants from the House and Lab 18 were suffering. The Lab 18 helicopter pilots did not appreciate it their crafts being dangerously overloaded with goods and grumpy merchants to boot.

The bottom line was simple. People had been killed. Livelihoods were in danger. People depended on the trade between the two cities and the Commonwealth. More lives were in danger with it nearly shut down. The people charged with keeping the supply line safe simply could not do anything about it. Even if the Regulators were to mass in force it was doubtful that they could open the line. It would merely open up a third front and probably sink them into a war that they neither wanted anything to do with and did not have the resources to continue if it became prolonged.

Law enforcers and peace keepers did not necessarily make good soldiers.

Even more troubling was when a Brotherhood knight stepped into his office on the tails of the caravan men. On his should armor was stamped both the Brotherhood insignia and the emblem of the Iron Storm elite troopers. The Iron Storm knight explained that their Enclave counterparts had intercepted information pointing to yet another wave of New Human Effort super mutants headings towards the City. The Brotherhood was requesting support from Regulator squads to help secure the boarder and hopefully participate in the upcoming defense.

Mark could only say that he would try to muster what squads he could with a worried sigh. It was the best that the Iron Storm knight was going to get. Again, Regulators were vigilantes, not soldiers.

But perhaps the single thing that was most worrying him was the document sitting on his desk. It was a signed document from a very trusted name within the Regulator ranks. The name written in the signature was not worrying. It was the contents itself within the message.

It was calling for the forced resignation of yet another Regulator.

* * *

Cindy sat on the edge of the bed and let her single working eye do its best to analyze the situation in front of her. Granted, she had little depth perception but that was not necessary for this particular issues.

It was clear, Sven was sulking.

She had been spending the past week or so keeping tabs on him and nursing him back to health. His wounds were healing properly and, as James predicted, he was making a full recovery. Still, despite his protestations, both James and Julia had agreed that he should remain on bed rest. Sven was not taking it very well; he was getting a really bad case of cabin fever.

Still, Cindy could tell more was bothering him than just being trapped in the same room for 24 hours a day.

"Sven, what's wrong?" Cindy asked.

Sven simply grumbled.

"Say what?" Cindy asked, leaning in.

"I'm not doing anything here. There are explosives to be made at the workshop." Sven muttered.

"Sven, you have a large stockpile made already. You're not falling behind. I even taught Sarah to how to make a couple of relatively benign land mines and she's putting some together in her spare time while waiting for experiment results in the workshop." Cindy explained.

"Hrmph…fine…I'm tired of being here…I want to get out." Sven sulked.

"Sven…what's bothering you?" Cindy asked, her one eye peering next to her eye patch.

Sven drew in a deep breath and then let out an equally stabilizing sigh.

"I screwed up." Sven mumbled.

"What? Sven, what are you talking about?" Cindy asked in shocked concern.

"I got careless, I got caught. They captured me. If I had been better this would not have happened…I…I can't be a Regulator anymore. I'm useless." Sven admitted in a remarkably rare moment of clarity of mind.

Cindy stared at him in sympathy before a light went on in her head. She disappeared for a moment before turning. When she came back she was carrying the disassembled pieces of a landmine.

"Here, put this together. As fast as you can." Cindy challenged with a smile.

In breathtaking speed Sven had the ordnance assembled and put in place.

"See, you can-"

Sven pressed the pressure sensor, effectively triggering the land mine count down sequence.

The ordnance started blinking.

Cindy's eye went wide, she was completely stunned.

And, just as abruptly, Sven disarmed the weapon and disassembled it before doing a final turn around and safely reassembling it. That finished, he returned it to Cindy.

The woman, taking the ordnance, returned a slightly shook but very impressed smile to Sven.

"…Thanks." Sven replied quietly.

"You're welcome." Cindy answered.

"I still want to get out of this bed." Sven said.

"Sorry, no can do." Cindy shook her head.

"Please?"

"No."

* * *

The Boys had returned back to Albany after giving their report. There was little else they could do at this point as Mark was now trying to consolidate all of his Regulator teams as well as figure out just how big the situation was before he started assigning where everyone should go. In the meantime, Anthony, Juan, Otto and Gerald had little to do other than trying to pass the time around the town.

Anthony decided to take a walk. He had snagged a spare cigarette from Juan and stuck it in his mouth before trying to light it up. Of course, having his cupped hands and lighter in front of his face had him a bit distracted from the road.

He almost did not notice it when he heard someone whisper his name.

Looking over, Anthony peered into one of the more secluded alleys of Albany's layout. Standing a bit off to the side, nearly behind an ancient dumpster, Anthony spotted Adam motioning for him to come forward. Anthony immediately understood. Glancing back and force to make sure no one was watching, Anthony casually stepped within the alleyway.

Even within the Regulator ranks there was an understanding that there were sub-cultures within the men who wore the green duster. Stereotypes among the men were formed and, while not completely true, there was an element of truth to them. Regulator snipers were considered methodical, quiet and a bit ornery when it came time to aiming. The heavy weapons Regulators had a reputation for being gung-ho, loud and lackadaisical. Those who packed explosives within their green dusters were considered insane or at least a bit batty by their comrades. At the very least it required a devil may care attitude. Finally, the Regulator assassins were considered shadowy, silver tongued and crafty if not a little resourceful.

Cloak and dagger meetings among Regulator assassins was not uncommon and was considered an inside ritual among this particular branch of the New York Regulators. To have one of these clandestine rendezvous was seen as being accepted among the veterans of the caste.

This was a high honor for Anthony.

"What do you need?" Anthony asked Adam quietly.

Adam himself tossed a spent cigarette from his lips, smoke trailing as it fell.

"I'll cut to the chase, Anthony, I have a private assignment for you if you want to take it." Adam started.

"Sure, name it." Anthony replied eagerly.

"Slow down, you haven't heard it yet. Even more to consider is that no one in the Regulator ranks have done what I'm going to ask you to do…not even myself." Adam said somberly.

"Oh…well…what is it?" Anthony asked, careful now as he was starting to realize the gravity of the situation.

"I have a hunch. I'd investigate myself but I'm too famous. I need someone to infiltrate the ranks of the Hierarchy military and see if they're sending troops on missions dressed as raiders or common mercenaries. Are you willing to do that?" Adam asked, laying down the line.

Anthony stared at him a moment.

"What would I have to do?" Anthony asked after a couple seconds.

"Nothing serious. Just go like a regular citizen seeking recruitment. Keep an eye or ear out. If you don't hear anything in a month or so feel free to jump ship. However, if you do hear something about it, try to get hard evidence of it, a holotape recording or something. I need something to nail the Hierarchy against the wall with." Adam explained darkly.

Anthony became quiet and contemplated his boots for a moment. Adam could tell he was thinking and honestly he felt bad for asking the kid to do this. Still, he was the only Regulator around that Adam felt would even consider the job.

"I'll do it." Anthony replied, looking Adam in the eye.

* * *

"All the clean water to supply an entire region is cleansed right here in this building." Isaac said, stepping into the bustling halls of Project Purity, once the Jefferson Memorial.

"I know…can you imagine if we could do something like this to the Hudson or New York Harbor?" David suggested.

Other than Furious yapping at random passerbys, the group all shared a speculating glance.

"Isaac, you're the former Brotherhood dude, how can we steal this secret?" David asked quietly.

"There's no way you'd get close to the terminals. The Scribes all hound those like buzzards to a kill. You'd be better off trying to look at the internal mechanisms but even then the scribes would be everywhere." Isaac replied.

"But this opportunity is too good to just pass up easily. Imagine, we could come back to Francis and not only give him a handful of seeds but also a system to clean the water supply." Joseph pointed out.

"Boys…you better decide quickly…you might attract attention…" Suda warned from the side of her mouth, keeping an eye out for anyone who would be staring at them.

"Alright, I think it's safe to say I'm the closest person this group has to a handyman so I'll try to figure it out. Suda, you should come with me to make it look just a bit more legitimate." David volunteered.

"Ugh…fine…" Suda scowled with a roll of her eyes.

"You sure you're going to remember it all?" Joseph asked.

"Hey man, don't underestimate me. I got plenty of saykhel up in here." David replied, pointing to his head.

"Fine, you and Suda go do what you can, Joseph and I will find the Lone Wanderer and get the location of this magical place." Isaac finalized.

And with that the group parted ways. Little did that know that for all the trouble they were going to go through, the secret they wanted could have easily been given out by asking the permission of a single person within the building.

Eventually, after much asking around, Joseph and Isaac stepped into the office that they had been directed to, uncertain of what to expect. As they had travelled through the DC area they had began to gather that the Lone Wanderer was a great hero of the area. Of course Isaac had to wonder how much what they'd been told was actually true and how much of it was urban legend. It seemed impossible that one solitary person could accomplish so much on their own. Most had spoken of the former Vault 101 resident with awe, even 20 years after the fact. Isaac couldn't help but wonder if this was how most of the people in their area felt when coming in contact with his parents and the other Liberators.

Furious, who had followed Isaac and Joseph, was more interested in snuffling around for scraps of food instead of trying to find a living legend. Ignoring them for the time being, he quite happily munched on the remains of a discarded Fancy Lad Snack Cake that he'd found in some dark corner of the office.

As they stood in the doorway of the office, Isaac and Joseph saw a woman bustling about the room and tending to her duties. Both Regulators exchanged a look of trepidation. This couldn't possibly be who they were looking for. Someone with a great reputation like that of the Lone Wanderer would surely be far more commanding. The woman who was gathering up a stack of reports from an in-tray was hardly that. She was short and certainly didn't have the physique of a battle hardened wasteland legend. In addition to that, Isaac noted that she walked with a slight limp that surely didn't make trekking around the wastes very easy for her.

"Excuse me," Isaac finally spoke to get her attention.

Settling into her chair with a slight groan, the woman gave Isaac and Joseph a warm smile, but her sharp, blue eyes studied them carefully.

"Hello. How can I help you?" she politely asked and leaned back in her chair. Still her eyes looked them over and appraised them. She'd learned that you could learn a lot about a person from the little details.

"…Are you the Lone Wanderer?" Isaac asked curiously.

The woman's eyebrow rose slightly, "Depends on who's asking."

Isaac wanted to squirm under the woman's intense scrutiny. Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm Isaac and this is Joseph. We're Regulators from what used to be New York."

"New York, huh? I've never been out that way, but if I remember my geography correctly, you're a long way from home." She rose from her seat and walked around to the front of her desk so she could lean against it casually. Crossing her arms over her chest, she tilted her head slightly, "Mind me asking what you've come here for?"

"We were given a mission from our grandmaster and were told that the Lone Wanderer could help us," Isaac explained.

The woman's brow knit together for a moment as she considered what they were asking. Finally, with a dismissive wave and a sigh she said, "Just call me Nicole. I've never liked being called the Lone Wanderer."

Even before Nicole had admitted who she was, Isaac had started to suspect that there was more to the woman than met the eye. There were hints that she'd led a hard life and that roaming the wastes had taken their toll on her. The lines on her face and the scars on her arms were proof of that. However, there was a quiet composure about her and a look in her eye that told Isaac she had managed to find some peace with it all.

If the stories they'd heard about what she'd endured were true, it was amazing that she'd held up as well as she had. In fact, she looked pretty well, considering the circumstances.

Joseph, stepped forward and almost reverently said, "The stories of your exploits reach even my people of the Nation. The hunters tell of the many great things you accomplished, even on your own."

"I was just doing the right thing. Anyone with an ounce of decency would have done the same," Nicole said with another wave of her hand. Almost bitterly she added, "Three Dog used to go on about me being the last, great hope for humanity but I always thought that was over the top."

Smiling again, Nicole said, "Now, it's not every day that Regulators come and seek me out, especially ones from so far away. What exactly are you boys looking for and where is this Nation that you talked about? I've been to a lot of places but I've never heard of the Nation," Nicole said, almost appearing to want to change the subject.

Before Isaac had a chance to answer Nicole, Joseph said, "The Nation is on the Mohawk River in northwestern New York."

Isaac almost did a double take. He could swear that Joseph had the slightest of smiles on his lips as he spoke to the Lone Wanderer.

"Anyway," Isaac cut in, "as I said, our grandmaster sent us here. Apparently he's heard rumors of a place lush with vegetation. He wants us to go there," Isaac explained.

Nicole's brow furrowed, "I see. Now, no offense here, but I've been in the Wasteland long enough to know not to trust anyone right off the bat. There are plenty of angels and demons out there and the demons can be pretty damned good at dressing like angels. Why does he want you to find this place? That's assuming the rumors are true, of course."

"Francis wants us to retrieve some seeds from the plants there. I guess he's hoping it might bring some life back to the place back home," Isaac answered.

After a few more moments of scrutinizing the boys before her and deliberating, she finally spoke. "Well, the rumors are true," Nicole admitted with a succinct nod. "The place exists. It's called Oasis and I have been there."

Isaac grinned, "That's great! Can you tell us how to get there?"

Sighing, Nicole raked her fingers through her graying chestnut hair. "I could, but I want some assurance first. You see, I made a promise to the people who live there, the Treeminders, to protect them by not revealing their location. It's a promise I've kept all these years."

Staring off into the distance, Nicole continued, "Oasis is just that. An oasis in the middle of what's practically a desert. Don't get me wrong, life in the Capitol Wasteland is better than it used to be, but it's still rough out there. Can you imagine what would happen if word got around about where Oasis is? It'd be pandemonium."

Having come from a people who tended to keep to themselves, Joseph understood what Nicole was saying and nodded in agreement.

"You have our word as Regulators," Isaac said solemnly. "We'll take Oasis' secret to our graves."

"Now don't go off lying to me either," she playfully scolded while wagging a finger at them. "I'm pretty good at figuring out when someone's pulling the wool over my eyes. And I should be! For a while I was married to the world's most underhanded liar and cheat." Shaking her head, she wistfully added, "Heh, I still miss him too."

As always, Joseph's strictly business nature came to the fore and he asked, "How far is Oasis from here?"

Nicole snapped out of her reveries of times gone by and said, "It's a long walk, almost on the outskirts of the DC area. Here, are you guys good with maps? I don't have one that I can mark and give you, but if you look at my Pip-boy map, would it help?" Nicole offered, showing the miniature computer strapped to her wrist.

Joseph leaned down to take in the information along with a few helpful hints from Nicole about landmarks that would help show them the way. After a couple moments he nodded confidently. Isaac was certain that their scout and tracker would know exactly what to do.

"Be careful though," Nicole warned. "The Treeminders do not like outsiders. When I happened to stumble across it all those years ago, the only reason they let me in was because there were extenuating circumstances. Don't be at all surprised if you're greeted by having a gun shoved in your face. As long as you keep calm and explain your situation, you should be fine."

"Thanks…we'll figure something out. We've come too far to return empty handed," Isaac replied.

"Alright," Nicole nodded. "Is there anything else I can help you boys with?"

"Hmmm…not really. I can't think of anything else." Isaac admitted.

"Before we part ways I would like to leave you a gift, Ms. Nicole," Joseph announced. With that, he reached into his pack and produced a spare tomahawk which he then carefully handed to her.

"I keep a couple extra on me. They're the traditional hatchet of my people." Joseph explained.

Nicole examined the tomahawk, admiring the simplicity of the weapon. Giving Joseph an appreciative smile, she said, "Well…thank you, Joseph. I'll be sure to put this in a safe place when I get back to Megaton."

With their business done and their goodbyes said, the two Regulators turned to leave but Nicole stopped them.

"Boys, before you go, here, take this." From around her neck she removed a roughly carved bear charm on a simple leather thong. For a moment, she held it in her hand, that same wistful look on her face that had been there earlier, before pressing it into Isaac's hand. "Show them this when you get to Oasis and tell them that Treeminder Oak sent you," she said with an amused smirk and a wink. "And be sure to tell Harold and Bob I said hi, too."

"Thanks again," Isaac said and tucked the necklace away for safe keeping. "We really appreciate all the help."

"Like I said before, it's nothing. Just doing what's right. If you boys are ever in Megaton, look me up. I'll buy you a round at Moriar-… eh… I mean Gob's. You'd think after all the years Moriarty's been stone cold dead in the ground I'd remember the change in management," she chuckled.

"If we get chance, we might take you up on that," Isaac said while practically dragging Joseph out of the room. "Thanks again, Nicole!"

"You're welcome boys. Watch your backs out there!" she called after them.

As they disappeared from sight, Nicole sighed and tiredly rubbed her eyes. It seemed hard for her to believe that she had once been as young as they were. While reminiscing about her past, a noise from under her desk caught her attention. Bending down to look, she spied the spike dog, which had apparently gotten comfortable and curled up into a ball to take a nap.

Bemused by the creature, Nicole gently nudged it with the end of a pencil to avoid being stuck by its quills. "Hey you. Your people are leaving without you."

Not appreciating being woken, Furious growled in reply, uncurled himself and hastily waddled to catch up with Isaac and Joseph. Lone Wanderer or not, how dare she disturb his rest!

The group met outside of the building. Suda and David both looked at them as soon as they exited. Apparently, Suda and David had been waiting for some time and it was clear that Suda was becoming impatient.

"Did you get anything?" Isaac asked apprehensively.

"Oh yeah, figured out the whole darn thing. I even got schematics." David grinned, unrolling a sheet of paper.

Even Furious looked astonished, but maybe more because he hadn't the slightest clue what all the scribbles meant.

"How'd you pull that off?" Isaac demanded.

"Hey, I'm a macher who managed to give enough compliments to a lonely looking scribe. Don't worry, I kept it kosher and she was so flattered she practically gave these to me." David explained with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah…if I understood him correct then yes, I can vouch that his wife would still be okay with him." Suda muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Great, and we found the location of Oasis so that leaves just one more place to go. Rivet City." Isaac said.

* * *

**_Author's Note:__Why yes, Nicole is a nod to SundayWinterChild's own Lone Wanderer. Go check out her story in the Road to Nowhere. It's probably better than the Dusters Trilogy. Also, she helped write part of this chapter, so credit where to credit is due. _**

**_Some of you might have noticed that updates are going slower. Alas, I am back with studies and work so yes, work is going slow but I promise it is continuing at a steady rate. _**

**_Blessings!_**


	25. Chapter 25

"_Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."_

-Isaac Asimov

* * *

Carl sat back in his usual chair located near the stern end of the _Hammer_ as he waited for his fishing pole to jerk. Sure, the warship was docked in the Albany harbor but he learned that if he was patient enough he could hook a fish or two from this spot.

The giant of a man sighed in contentment. After many, many hours of sitting behind a fishing pole, gazing at the gently flowing waters and occasionally watching the sunset, Carl had decided that he had not done quite enough of it, especially considering he enjoyed it so much.

So much time spent Regulating. Carl knew it was important and that it was what made him famous but was it really worth it? The fame certainly was superfluous but the peace Regulating brought? Okay, that was a hard trade he decided but still, in the end it was fighting.

So much different from these calm waters and the sunset.

And fishing? That was peace. He scratched his head a moment, trying to remember an old proverb he heard about fishing. He noticed the rat people had taken to calling Whiskers shuffle about on the deck. The rodent curiously peeked over the railing as if to investigate where the fishing pole's line ended before taking off to leave the ship.

Ah yes, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but if you teach a man to fish you'll feed him for a lifetime.

Carl was proud of himself for remembering that line when he saw his second in command, Poseidon, walk up to him. The ghoul glanced over the railing for a moment before looking back at Carl.

"I think you caught something's attention. There's a shape heading for the lure." Poseidon said.

"Oh good, we'll let it think about it and then grow used to it." Carl replied.

"How long until you think we found out who snatched Sven and then give them what for?" Poseidon asked seriously. He shifted, as if bracing for a retort. Poseidon knew that this was probably not a topic they wanted to dwell on but it had to be done.

Carl sighed uncomfortably.

"I don't know, buddy, I don't know. All I know is that I'm getting too old for the job." Carl finally replied.

The lure jerked.

Carl immediately started reeling in the bait and felt his large biceps straining harder than usual.

"Got a big fish on the line." Carl grunted.

"More like a lurk. Give me a moment." Poseidon said, looking down the hull.

Before Carl could say anything he saw Poseidon remove his harpoon from his back and heard a snap as the ghoul expertly threw the large spear. The tension on the line immediately slacked and within a few moments Carl reeled in a very dead and very impaled mirelurk.

"Nice catch, boss." Poseidon grinned.

* * *

Anthony could feel his heart pounding.

It had taken a day or two of traveling up from the Hudson and then passing into the Hierarchy city of Haven but he had managed to pull it off. He did his best to look like just another citizen of the Hierarchy. He had even shed his Regulator duster before he even began his journey. The only things he had on him that were reminders of his real life was his silence pistol, two daggers, a couple of poisoned darts and three stealthboys for good measure.

And now he was standing in a recruitment line for the Hierarchy armed forces.

Most of the other boys both in front and behind him appeared calm although one or two appeared just as nervous as he assumed he looked. Of course, they had different reasons for their anxiety. Adam's words kept echoing in his ears, blocking out the sounds of men and military recruiters slogging through paperwork.

"_No Regulator has done this before…not even myself…" _

He felt the tips of his fingers and toes go numb as his heart rate climbed higher.

"Next!" a recruitment officer garbed in the dark blue combat armor of the Hierarchy forces yelled.

Anthony found himself staring wide eyed at empty space between himself and the recruiter.

"Step closer, son." The recruiter barked in a no nonsense tone.

Anthony made a mindless shuffle forward as quickly as possible.

"Name." the recruiter demanded.

Anthony blanked.

"_Do I tell them my name or do I make one up? Shoot, if I make one up I'll have to remember it! Adam did not tell me what to do on this! Come on, my real name or a fake name I can remem-"_

"I don't have all day, son!" the recruiter snapped irritably.

"A-Anthony!"

"_Shoot…"_

"You got a last name?" the recruiter demanded.

"…N…no?" Anthony blathered.

The recruiter carried on business as usual.

In the wastes, it was not uncommon for someone to not have a last name.

"Fill these out the step over to the right where a quartermaster will hand you your equipment and instruct you where to go next." The recruiter ordered, shoving some yellowed pages into his hand.

"_I…I did it…?" _

This was much more difficult than stealthing up and stalking raiders.

* * *

Francis and Mark both sat dejectedly in their seats, the silence hanging in the air. Mark had made the trek up the river from his headquarters at the House to visit Francis in his vault. They had exchanged a lengthy and heated discussion over Francis' desk until it had become tiring for both of them.

The real problem wasn't that they were disagreeing with each other. The trouble lay with the issue they were discussing and that it was one of the most difficult ones they had faced in their careers.

"Look, Francis, I know neither of us wants to make him retire but the person calling for him to leave has brought up some very good reasons to do so. You and I both know that he would not have written this letter to us if he hadn't felt so strongly about it." Mark said.

"I know, I know, Mark. You and I have no reason to disbelieve him and even I know not to doubt his judgment on the matter. Still…can we hope that he might be overreacting?" Francis suggested, almost helplessly.

However, Francis knew there was no hope in that.

"Look, several months ago we had a similar discussion and you told me that this very same man was coming to the end of his career. This...well, this is the clincher. One of us is going to have to call him in and talk to him. One of us is going to have to make that call, Francis." Mark pointed out, the pain of the weight on their chests showing in his voice.

Francis simply stared into his dust on his desk as if sulking.

"I'll talk to him. His career began with me…and I'll see that it will end with me." Francis finally said wearily.

"…Neither of us really wants this…" Mark replied quietly after a moment of breathless silence.

"I know…and I know he won't either…" Francis mumbled.

* * *

Back at home when Isaac was growing up, it was the norm for people to make their homes on ships. Many had bought a river vessel since it was simply more convenient to live on their ships rather than trying to scrape enough caps together to buy a land based home. Besides, living on their ship also meant that they could also keep an eye on it.

But a whole city based on a former aircraft carrier? That was something he had never seen before.

"Just when I think I've been impressed, this place throws another thing to up the bar." David observed in awe, trying to take in the whole vessel. Indeed, the sight before them was magnificent. The orange of dusk was starting to fade away so that they could see the lights from the portholes starting to twinkle into the creeping night. The glow was a beacon that there was still hope for humanity to make a bastion for itself in the harshness of the wastes.

"Normally I think this is the part where I'm suppose to get impatient and say 'let move' but I'm a little puzzled on how we're actually suppose to get onto the ship." Suda admitted.

Furious, standing at the edge of the causeway, started yapping for no obvious reason.

"Hold on." Joseph said and went to where Furious was. It wasn't long before he found what appeared to be a communication device of some sort. He hit the appropriate button.

"Rivet City security, are you seeking entrance aboard the ship?" a voice came in through the radio.

"Uh, yes." Joseph replied, unused to initial greetings over a radio.

"Wait a moment." The voice replied and suddenly they saw a catwalk starting to rotate into the proper position, promising to act as a bridge between them and into the main entrance of the city of steel.

"Hey, this is exciting." Isaac said with a smile.

"I'm practically giddy." Suda grumbled sarcastically.

The four plus their mascot carefully made their way across the catwalk. All around them they could hear the faint groans of the metal expanding and contracting. They could not help but wonder if some of that contracting and bending was from the weight of all the years. Still, they had to assume that the inhabitants here did their best to make sure that the ship remained in relatively good working condition.

"Alright, a group of Regulators so I suppose I don't have to give you all a speech on how to behave yourself." A middle age man wearing dark combat armor said as they approached the door.

"You are?" Isaac asked.

"Security chief Harkness. Welcome to Rivet City. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that we're on the same side." Harkness said sternly. The man appeared to be in his middle ages and yet there was something off.

His voice seemed a bit…too robust for someone his age.

Almost...artificial?

The Spike Dogs cautiously slinked on by and into the ship.

"Why does everyone have to be so darn skeptical these days?" Isaac grumbled as they made their way to the marketplace.

"Perhaps a better question is why you're still so darn trusting." Suda retorted.

"Right, right, I see where this conversation is going. Still, a little common human courteously isn't too much to ask for in a civilized environment, is it?" Isaac shrugged.

"We just stepped from the wastes and frankly, between Joe and Furious here, I think we would look a bit savage." Suda muttered.

"Were you trying to be subtle or did you just want to take a shot at me?" Joseph grumbled.

"I think we all need to just take a deep breath and calm down." David butted in, not wanting an argument at the moment.

"Oh shoot, I forgot to ask that guy a question." Isaac sputtered, glancing back in the direction of Harkness.

"And what question was that?" David asked.

"Whether or not someone looking like Claire passed by here." Isaac admitted.

"Isaac, she said not to seek her out. Are you trying to get her into trouble?" Suda demanded.

"No, I just wanted to make sure she got here safe. Honest." Isaac asserted.

"Sure, whatever." Suda replied, rolling her eyes.

"So now we start asking around for a Mina Jordan?" David inquired.

"Sounds as good a place to start as any." Joseph shrugged.

"Bark!" Furious yapped excitedly, staring at the food being served Gary's Galley.

"Not yet, Furious." Isaac scolded.

Furious growled impatiently.

"You know what, you three go look for your Regulator friend. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the dog." Suda offered.

"Are you sure?" Isaac asked.

"Sure, I'm feeling outnumbered enough as it is and the last thing we need is an even more irate spike dog on our hands." Suda shrugged passively.

"Alright, suit yourself." David replied.

* * *

Delta Sierra crept catlike through the entrance hallways of the vault. For now he was only in the reactor levels. Trusting his suit to provide him a near invisible status, he nonetheless returned his infiltrator rifle to its place and unsheathed his combat knife. He honestly was not sure what he would do if he ran into a mutant down here. He had to hope they would not notice him. The Enclave agent understood that if made the first strike then he would leave a dead and most likely bleeding body. That would immediately alert any other mutants that something was amiss.

He could only strike if they struck out first.

He hated that thought.

"ENCOM, are there any records of such a vault like this? Schematics and floor layouts would be really helpful." Delta Sierra whispered into his communication link.

"We've been working on it agent but either this vault was privately made or was highly classified as we've been searching for hours and still have not pulled up anything. You will be notified the moment we have something. In the meantime, maintain radio silence." ENCOM reported back.

"_Great_._" _

His boots falling as silently as possible on the lifeless steel, he passed a door simply marked as REACTOR. He briefly flirted with the idea of playing with the controls and causing the power supply to overheat. That would quickly destroy the whole vault but he was under orders to continue investigation. His career had been over twenty years in the making and never once had he outright disobeyed orders. Sure, he bent them at times but that was the for good of everyone. Well, in all honesty it was mostly for himself, but he liked to think that in the grand scheme everyone benefited.

When Delta Sierra came to what he believed to be the main stairwell, he paused and studied it. Instead of ascending stairs like he had expected, after all that was the design of most vaults, he found descending ones. Apparently, the reactor and entrance was built on the top of the vault while everything else was built deeper into the ground.

Directly the opposite of most other Vault designs.

He did not consider this a good omen.

Staunching the taste of bile in his mouth, Delta Sierra forced his legs, numbed with fear, to continue on.

* * *

After some asking around, David, Joseph and Isaac made their way to the Church of St. Monica. Almost immediately they spotted a woman wearing a Regulator duster sitting in one of the pews. She appeared to be meditating. Or praying. The men weren't quite able to decide which it was but they all felt a bit awkward about breaking her reverie.

"Ahem, are you Mina Jordan?" Isaac asked cautiously, coughing to get her attention.

Mina opened one eye to look at them before opening the other.

"Since you three also wear the duster then yes, I am Mina Jordan. Is there something you guys needed?" Mina asked.

Isaac could tell that Mina was a little younger than his parents but she still radiated youthfulness about her. It was apparent that she was tall and held a quiet composure about her. Also striking was that despite numerous scars that crossed her face she still had a countenance that many would call beautiful.

"My name is Isaac. My parents, James and Julia, told me I should seek you out for help around here." Isaac introduced carefully.

His heart pounded, hoping that Mina would not give away the identity everyone else knew his parents by.

Mina squinted her eyes hard at him as if trying to detect any hint of a lie. Standing to her full height, which actually matched his own, she crossed her arms in front of her as she continued her silent investigation.

Joseph and David both exchanged a nervous glance.

Isaac fidgeted.

"Um…mom and dad told me that I should give this to you, just in case you had any doubts." Isaac squeaked, feeling very small under the scrutiny.

Carefully reaching into one of his duster pockets, Isaac pulled out a full blood pack and meekly offered it to Mina.

Mina raised an eyebrow at it before she brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a snicker. Taking the packet of blood, she carefully placed it in her own pack before smiling broadly at Isaac.

"Well, I'll be! Isaac, you've grown so much it's no wonder I didn't recognize you. I used to take care of you when you were little and your mom and dad were off in the line of danger. Haha, I can even remember when that oversized rat sniffed you out in all those ruins!" Mina giggled, giving Isaac a rather strong hug.

"Um…yeah, I obviously do not remember any of that." Isaac admitted sheepishly. He did know his parents mentioned stories about finding him and that Mina was around but he was not too familiar with the details.

"So, who are your friends? How are your parents? And what about Carl, Adam and Sven? Please tell me they're all okay." Mina continued.

Isaac quietly but furiously hoped all those names would mean nothing to Joseph and David.

"They're all doing fine. These guys are David and Joseph, they're with me on a mission that Francis sent us on." Isaac responded.

"Francis? Really? Wow, no offense but I'm surprised that old man hasn't kicked the bucket yet. He wasn't exactly young when I was up there." Mina replied, quietly bemused at Francis' longevity.

"Yeah, he's still alive and kicking. Anyway, we got sent here to-"

Joseph kicked his boot.

"Oh, right, uh…I can't talk about it too much as it's under secrecy, but we're going to be around here for awhile and we were wondering if you could give us a few pointers. Is DC any much different from New York as far as dangers go?" Isaac asked.

"Haha, all right, I understand the secrecy and all. For a moment I was wondering if Francis sent you guys to come and ask me to come back. Hmm, I'll have to think on that question. Here, lets go to the marketplace and get a drink while I try to answer that question." Mina announced excitedly, taking an energetic step into the corridor.

Unsure but not having a better direction, the three men followed behind her, Isaac secretly letting out a relieved sigh that at least for now it looked like his secret was still safe.

Sitting on a stool at the counter, Suda cast an inquisitive glance at Furious who was on the counter messily eating the scraps given to him. This time they were able to get away with getting free scraps for Furious because the waitress practically squealed when he grumpily hauled himself on the counter and declared that he was "cute."

Suda could not understand how anyone could think such an irate and bad tempered creature could be seen as "cute" but at least she didn't have to part with her caps for his scraps.

Furious let out a tiny belch, finishing his plate of food.

"You're such a pig." Suda grumbled.

"Bark!" Furious replied, almost sounding as if he was in agreement.

Then he rolled up into a ball to, presumably, take a quick nap.

"Why did they come here?" a tense voice whispered to Suda from her side.

The mercenary looked over to see another woman, her dark hair allowed to fall freely around her face as if to veil her identity.

"…Claire?" Suda asked curiously.

"Of course, it's me. I thought I told you to tell him not to follow me." Claire hissed.

This time Suda let out an exasperated sigh with yet another roll of her eyes.

"Of course I warned him but they actually had business to conduct here. He claims he is not actively searching you out. Whether or not he's actually keeping to that, I don't know. Look, I'll tell him again if I think he's being fishy but I would also lay low if I were you." Suda replied, a bit of impatience in her voice.

"Fine. Thanks." Claire replied quickly before stealthily slinking away and leaving the marketplace.

Feeling an inexplicable tension, as if something was amiss, Suda nonetheless allowed herself to relax. She glanced over to see that David, Joseph and Isaac had indeed tracked down that other Regulator they had been talking about. Suda did not care to be part of it and it did not appear that they made any effort to include her. The Regulator woman whom Suda could only presume was Mina, seemed to be actively unloading a lot of information on them but Suda couldn't care less.

She honestly was not sure where to go from here. At first she wanted see if there was another mercenary team she could sign up with but she could not find the recruiters she had in mind. There was also the option of signing up with the Rivet City security but something told her that she did not quite want to do that yet.

Why did she have this inexplicable feeling that there was something out there that she was still searching for?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bar, it looked like Mina was wrapping up her cascade of information.

"…The wildlife seems to be just as ornery over here as I observed it to be over there in New York. However, I will warn you, I don't know how things are over there in New York when it comes time to mercs and raiders but this I do know. In DC, raiders are down but organized thugs, mercs, are up. Talon Company is keeping a persistent and stubborn influence here no matter how many times they take a beating. If you see black on the horizon, shoot first, as questions later." Mina warned them, swigging back a Nuka Cola.

"Sounds good. I think I can remember all of that." Isaac replied with a nod.

"And if you can remember all of that then I think the rest of us are good in adequately recalling it." David jibbed, smiling as he raised a glass of whisky to his lips.

"Har, har." Isaac grumbled.

And quiet suddenly, they heard a mysterious noise starting to rumble all around them. It was dull, almost unnoticeable but the sound reverberated all across the metal walls that contained them. The initial sounding caused more than enough heads to pause and look up but eventually it seemed that the locals all quietly deduced what it was.

That still left David, Joseph and Isaac looking around in confusion. Mina gave a knowing smile.

"Ah, that. That would be the sound of a phenomenon that we just noticed coming back recently." Mina announced.

"What is it? Tell me, is it actually-"

"Yes, Joseph. That's rain." Mina smiled.

"Wow…we got those once in a blue moon. The best and regular precipitation we get is in the form of frost and occasionally snow." Isaac replied, eyes still wide listening to the alien sound of the water tapping on the steel.

"And that means you boys should delay your travel plans. The rain can come down hard and relentless. While most of it is benign here near the basin, there are some areas where it comes down irradiated. Furthermore, if the rain itself isn't irradiated, it may kick up places where radiation has been lying dormant. No one travels in the rain. Trust me. Stay here till the storm passes." Mina said, her countenance set in a stern warning.

"Understood." Joseph replied.

They glanced over to see Suda walking towards them after she decided no one would consider bothering a gently snoring ball of spikes.

"Isaac, could we talk? In private?" Suda asked.

The three Regulators immediately became concerned.

"Uh…sure." Isaac replied albeit reluctantly.

Carefully sliding off the aged stool, Isaac lead Suda off to a more quiet spot.

"What do you think he did this time?" David asked Joseph as they walked off.

"I never once understood the situation. So long as they do not kill each other, I will happily continue in that state." Joseph replied.

Elsewhere, Isaac immediately fell into a defensive state and folded his arms over his chest and sighed in exasperation.

"So what's up?" Isaac asked.

"Your ex bumped into me again. She-"

"Is she al-"

"Yes, Isaac, she's all right. Just shut up and let me finish. Look, your presence here kind of puts her in a less than ideal position. People know you're a Regulator and she does not know who might be an informant for the Talons. It is best that you keep a low profile and pretend not to know her if you do see her. Understood?" Suda asked, eyebrow raised.

"Y…yeah." Isaac replied, starting to slouch.

Suda shook her head in frustration.

"Isaac, I'm not scolding you and I am by no means her friend. I just understand the situation because I'm a merc myself and I know that you mean well. I'm actually just trying to help this time. I hate Talon Company as much as you guys do." Suda explained.

"No. I understand. Thanks. I better go find a room and check in." Isaac muttered quietly, while walking away from Suda.

A couple hours later Isaac was shifting nervously around in his room. Rain drops continued to paint his porthole window with different cascades of obscured images. Sure, he was a bit agitated about the whole situation with Claire but it was the boredom more than anything else that was making him pace his room. There were only so many times he could clean his rifles and sharpen his machete.

He was certain Joseph found something to do while they waited for the rain to stop. He had stopped by and Isaac's coat. Seeing that Joseph already had David's, Isaac asked what Joseph wanted them for. Joseph explained that he wanted to patch them up. Apparently, Joseph was a skilled tailor and their coats had certainly gathered a collection of cuts and holes along the journey.

Becoming fed up with being stuck in his room, Isaac wrenched his door open and decided to venture out on the flight deck. Perhaps the falling water would sooth his restless spirit.

Stepping out onto the sopping wet steel and weathered flight deck, Isaac squinted through the water falling in his eyes and stared out at the gray and restless sea. It was such an odd sensation. He had only seen rain once or twice in his life thus far.

And he was quite surprised to see David sitting cross legged and hunched over on the deck.

"David…what are you doing?" Isaac asked over the rainfall.

"I'm mourning." David replied quietly.

Isaac immediately became alarmed.

"Mourning? Mourning what?" Isaac asked in shock.

David sighed.

"A few years before the Great War, before the bombs fell, there was a limited nuclear weapons exchange in the Holy Land, the ancestral land of my people." David started.

Isaac strained his ears, trying to listen over the sound of the rain pelting the flight deck as David continued.

"…When the dust settled…most of Israel was destroyed. More of my people were killed in those few short moments than during the previous catastrophe called the 'Holocaust.' The Rabbis decided…'Let no one name this day…let no one mention it…may it just be mourned…may it just be remembered…in hopes that it would never happen again…"

And still the rain came down.

* * *

_Authors Notes: Yes, sorry for the delay, my classwork jumped out and bit me. Also send a thanks to SundayWinterChild for her continued work in the editing. _

_Mina Jordan is a character from the original work of EasyCompany506. She is not my _

_Thanks to Forfie for help on this chapter. _


	26. Chapter 26

"_To have courage for whatever comes in life – everything lies in that."_

St. Theresa of Avila

* * *

David, with water still rolling off of him in torrents, wearily stepped back into the calm halls of Rivet City. As part of the mourning ritual, he had sat outside in the rain from sunup to sundown. He had not eaten nor had anything to drink for that whole time. He was hungry, felt parch despite all the water on him but more than anything, he was exhausted.

Wiping water from his bleary eyelids, he nonetheless noticed something on the floor. Squinting at it in confusion for a moment, he tried to figure out exactly what he was seeing. Once David realized what it was, he walked as fast as his tired limbs would allow to find Isaac.

Returning to the bizarre sight with Isaac in two behind him, David tiredly waved his hands in surrender at the sight.

"I found him this way." David admitted.

Isaac tilted his head as if also trying to process what he was seeing.

Flopped on his back with his legs sprawled into the air was Furious.

"I'm not sure if he's sick or dead or what." David said wearily.

Isaac bent down to get a closer look.

"Urk?" Furious mumbled in befuddlement, dazed eyes falling on Isaac for a moment before the spike dog went back to staring off into the void.

"No, I've seen this before. It happened to my pet rat once." Isaac finally announced.

"What's wrong with him?" David asked.

"Blaaa…" Furious blathered.

"This is why Jet junkies shouldn't just toss their spent canisters willy nilly. A curious creature might find it and figure out how to hit the depressor." Isaac replied, pointing at the offending object just off to the side from Furious.

Their spike dog was as high as a cloud.

"I will never forget it. Rat was lead me and my two siblings along when he must've gotten hungry for snacks. Of course, my brother, sister and I had no idea what chems were at the time, much less what a discarded Jet canister might mean. Our rat was curious, stuck his nose in the nozzle while simultaneous hitting the trigger. A cloud shot out and our rodent friend was immediately on his back and dazed as our spike dog friend is now." Isaac explained.

"Fascinating. Now, lets get this little guy back to one of our rooms so no one tries to make a snack out of _him_." David muttered, gathering some rags and wrapping them around his hands to use as protection before gathering up the drugged spike dog.

"Blregh?" Furious asked absentmindedly.

"When Rat finally did get off his high, he stumbled in a zig zag back to the house to sleep off the effects. That night, he had the worst case of the munchies ever. After immediately devouring dinner he went and sat fidgeting in the kitchen. Haha, mom got so frustrated with him she booted him out of the house to go find his own snacks. It wasn't until years later did my siblings and I truly understood all that happened." Isaac chuckled.

* * *

Anthony balled his fists and got in the proper stance that Adam had taught him in training for unarmed combat. Like most of the prospective Hierarchy recruits, he had passed most of the tests. He already knew how to use an assault rifle and he had passed the marksmanship test easily. It didn't impress the officers enough to put him in the marksman teams but that was not Anthony's intent anyway.

"Alright grunts, use the techniques we taught you. Fight!" the drill sergeant shouted.

Anthony's opponent charged him.

Adrenaline surging through his system, Anthony not only executed the crude techniques of the Hierarchy, his instincts took over and he sequenced into a more complicated maneuver, sending his opponent crashing to the ground.

"_Shoot, you're suppose to be a recruit. Go easy. You're __not__ trying to kill him." _Anthony reminded himself.

Dazed and surprised, the recruit hauled himself up and got back into his stance, willing to have another go.

Anthony matched the stance.

Not only did Anthony deflect the incoming punch, he sent a hook across the recruit's jaw.

The undercover Regulator and the onlooking drill sergeants were shocked to find the other guy knocked out cold on the ground.

Anthony was even more shocked to find himself being dragged off by two of the recruiters, one on each of his arms.

He felt dread forming ice inside him.

The drill sergeants suddenly deposited him in front of yet another of the Hierarchy's military personnel. However, this one looked like he was an officer. Anthony gave him a quick once over before locking into the man's cold, dark eyes. They seemed to be weighing him up. Anthony could easily imagine that this man was used to calculating both people and situations.

The Hierarchy officer wore a simple pre-war military fatigues. A single scar ran through his left eyebrow and plummeted deep into his cheek. His features were harsh and gave him a stern apperance that betrayed no warmth or friendliness.

"This recruit performed well in the unarmed combat test?" the officer asked the drill sergeant with mild interest.

"Superbly, sir." One of the sergeants answered deftly.

"Dismissed." The officer ordered causing the two sergeants to mechanically turn on their heels and return to the training grounds.

Anthony realized he must have passed a test. It was jarring.

"Don't think you've impressed me yet, recruit. However, if you pass a few more tests you might find yourself working within our covert operations program. My name is Lieutenant John Macintyre." The officer introduced himself abruptly.

Anthony gulped but secretly became glad that he was probably getting closer to his objective.

* * *

It took a couple hours but eventually Furious rolled off his back and sat on his own four legs, albeit still in a fog. Regardless, both Isaac and David took it as a sign that their mascot had gotten off his inadvertent drug trip.

"Took him long enough." David muttered.

Before anyone could say anything, Isaac's room door flew open to reveal Joseph. He seemed to have their dusters slung over his arm.

"These are yours. I took the liberty of getting a little creative with them. The fact that people are starting to call us the Spike Dogs gave me a little inspiration.

Both Isaac and David took a moment to inspect just exactly what Joseph had done.

Apparently, Joseph had collected quite a bit of the quills from Furious during their journey. Drawing from the artistic crafts he had created from his home, Joseph had managed to stitch the quills in angular patterns along the back and sleeves of their coats. The quills hardly could cover the coats but the patterns themselves were distinctive. In a way, they would now really resemble spike dogs with their dusters on.

"Haha, thanks Joe." Isaac laughed, trying on the coat.

"Knew you had more to you than just that scowl on your mug." David jibbed, also putting on his duster.

"I was tempted to stick the quills pointing in on yours." Joseph bantered back.

Furious meanwhile tilted his head and stared intently at the quills. Something told him they belonged to him. For a moment Furious glared angrily at Joseph but then he realized he was hungry. Quickly forgetting the suspicious quills on their coats, Furious slinked out the door and barked at the men, urging them to follow along and quickly.

It took them a couple minutes of walking down the hall before Isaac suddenly realized something.

"Do you hear that?" Isaac asked curiously, his head turning to and fro to random places around the hall.

"Hear what?" David asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I don't hear anything." Joseph reported.

"Exactly. The rain has stopped." Isaac grinned.

"Awesome. Lets head out after we finish breakfast." Joseph replied.

* * *

Delta Sierra rounded a corner a corner of the vault, his blade still held firmly in one hand as he analyzed the situation before him. The hall was straight and eerily light by the lights placed at regular intervals overhead. Taking a moment to make sure he felt comfortable enough to more forward, he started carefully stepping as quietly as possible down the hall.

Something was wrong.

He had seen no living facilities. He had been in vault ruins before. Usually there were restrooms, signs, posters, random trinkets but nothing suggested that there had been human life here before. Yet, the halls were relatively clean. Heck, he could not even detect blood splatters or other signs of gore and he had just seen a whole army of mutants just leave. If other mutants were living here he was certain they would have brought their messy and profusely bleeding meals back here. Besides, whoever heard of a _clean_ super mutant hold out?

Nothing was adding up here.

Movement further down the corrdier caught his attention and made Delta Sierra freeze.

Centaur.

This was one of the newer variety that arrived alongside the New Human Effort. They only resembled other centaurs in the way that they got around on six legs. Delta Sierra thought that with their sleeker bodies and stingers, they honestly better resembled fleshy, unarmored radscorpions. Although they lacked pincers their mouths opened into a maw with many rows of sharp teeth.

And this monstrosity was walking right towards him.

Delta Sierra doubled checked to make sure he was still under the veil of the stealth suit. Satisfied that he was still just a trick of the eye, he flattened up against the wall. His could practically feel his heartbeat pounding in his throat and behind his eyes.

"_Stay calm…stay calm. Snap its neck if it notices you_." The Enclave agent told himself.

The Centaur was now right next to him. And stopped.

He could see noxious, vile drool dripping from its many rows of jagged teeth.

And then, too slowly for Delta Sierra's comfort, it turned around and disappeared back down the hallway.

The agent fought the urge to let out a sigh of relief. Instead, forcing his heartbeat to regulate, he remained in position taking shallow breaths. It took a minute or two but he could finally feel his systems starting to slow down as the adrenaline surge started to fade. Steeling himself yet again, he slowly began to continue his descent.

Everything inside him was still screaming that there was something inexplicably and terribly wrong with this place.

Steeling himself yet again, he slowly continued his descent. He had to get to the bottom of the mystery this vault was hiding.

* * *

Rainwater had shifted the topsoil, the upset earth was now in places it was not before while miniature streams cut and sculpted soil whichever way the runoff flowed. Although a normal sight for people before the Great War, this was something that wastelanders just did not see very often. Even Furious seemed fascinated by it. The roads themselves were no different than any other place in the wasteland. Derelict car hulls littered the strip at random intervals while numerous parts of the pavement were pockmarked with potholes or sand where the road had simply disintegrated.

Even more astonishing was that Suda was still with them.

"I was under the impression that you would find a mercenary recruiter at Rivet City and we would have parted ways there. It's not like you made a point to stick around with us while we were there." Isaac said out lout as their footsteps sounded on the ancient blacktop.

"Trust me, I tried looking but I could not find anything that suited me." Suda replied, almost in annoyance.

"You could have waited there. You didn't have to come with us." David answered with a shrug.

"What, you guys don't want me following you now?" Suda demanded.

"You haven't exactly been the most joyful person. It seemed like you wanted nothing but to get away from us at the first opportunity. Rivet City was just that." Joseph explained, his eyes squinting to scan the horizon in the sunlight.

Furious was waddling along the roadside, sniffing at the dust before ambling along a couple feet only to sniff at the ground again.

"That was the original plan but I could not find anything and I did not relish the thought of just sitting there, waiting in Rivet City. Plus I have other reasons which I will not be discussing." Suda answered in a matter of fact tone, her jaw set stubbornly.

"So that's it? You're just not going to tell us?" David asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nope." Suda shook her head.

"_Bupkes_…" David muttered.

"Disregarding our gibberish speaking friend-"

"It's Yiddish!" David interjected, interrupting Isaac.

"Regardless, just why are you not discussing these reasons?" Isaac inquired.

"That's my business. Can we drop the subject now?" Suda demanded, eyes flashing a warning.

"_Shut up_." Joseph growled, barely above a breath. With a fluid movement, he had taken his bow from his back.

This prompted immediate and alarmed looks from the others.

Cautiously, the others immediately lowered to a crouch as if expecting bullets to start flying any moment. The problem was that they had no idea what exactly the danger was, only that Joseph was clearly agitated.

"What's wrong?" David asked, shouldering his assault rifle.

Joseph actually sniffed the air.

"We're surrounded…I can smell them…" Joseph grumbled.

"You can actually _smell _them? You have got to be kidding me." Suda hissed, skeptical but not willing to bet her life on it.

"Who exactly is 'them?'" Isaac demanded.

Joseph immediately whipped around, his bow drawn back and taunt. He had heard a stray rock fall from its place and roll, bouncing, off the rough landscape.

"Take cover, eyes wide!" Joseph shouted.

The bow twanged.

And off in the distance, a figure sprouted an arrow.

Black armor.

"Talons!" David shouted, assault rifle barking at another figure that had shown itself.

Suda was cursing as she returned her shotgun to its place and furiously yanked out her own assault rifle.

"Cover each other! We've got nothing to hide behind!" Isaac shouted, trying to steady his rifle to nail a Talon he spotted off in the distance.

Bullets erupting craters all along the ground and ricocheting urged Furious to scuttle around in a panic. Shivering in fright but knowing his mass of quills would not protect him from ballistic rounds, the spike dog just continued to run around in circles, barking in fright. However, a narrow miss from several bullets caused Furious to stop dead in his paws.

Flight rapidly shifted to fight.

Furious was pissed.

Isaac thought he had finally zeroed the Talon in his scope when he felt a bullet erupt just a few inches away from his boot. Instinct kicking in, he immediately evaded, rolling on his back to get out of that position. Sucking in deep, panicked breaths, Isaac immediately noticed yet two more Talons rapidly closing in our their position.

He did not even bother aiming, he just started firing at them.

"Isaac, get out of there!" Suda shouted, standing up to provide covering fire, sending lead towards any Talons that did not seemed to be zeroed by Joseph or David.

"Got one!" David announced before turning around to see if there was any way he could help.

_Click_.

David bit his lip, hearing explosions and practically feeling the bullets cut air all around him as he furiously worked to change his magazine.

"I can't get that sharpshooter up there!" Joseph growled, noticing Isaac still running in a zig zag patter, trying to keep the sharpshooter off of them while also simultaneous trying to stay alive.

And, quite unexpectedly, they heard the sharpshooter cry out in pain.

Furious was, well, living up to his namesake.

Plus he realized he was still hungry.

Catching their breaths and double checking to make sure that they were still unharmed, the others started to gather. Suda was already going from body to body, looking for anything that they would probably need. Meanwhile, both David and Joseph looked up on the hillside, watching the livid ball of quills that was Furious.

"I'm not sure I want to go and see what I might find up there." David grimaced, realizing that Furious was now _eating_ the Talon.

"I…I have no comment." Joseph replied uneasily, disgusted by the clearly satisfied spike dog.

Sure, he knew it was natural but that didn't mean he enjoyed seeing it.

* * *

Delta Sierra continued on what he was starting to feel was a perpetual crouch. He knew his progress was slow but it was absolutely vital that he remained hidden and undetected. Above all else he could not betray a hint to any occupants within the vault that something was amiss.

That would make his job distressingly harder.

Still, as one hallway spiraled down to another hallway, he was starting to understand that this was far from an ordinary vault. There were no living quarters to be found, no facilities such as restrooms or even janitorial closets. Robobrains were missing. Still no signs of gore or other messes that were usually left discarded in a super mutant abode. It was as if there was this giant vault hidden that had a knack of just randomly spitting out super mutants.

And it just kept going further underground.

_"Not good. When will it change? There aren't even any hallways branching off. Is this just one, long descending path? Where will it lead? What will I find?" _Delta Sierra thought in fear.

By now Delta Sierra wanted something _anything_ that would give him a hint as to what exactly was the nature of this vault. Searching deep into his memory, he had remembered that many of the vaults from before the war were actually twisted social experiments. Sure, some were relatively benign but others were basically pre-programmed death traps or implements of torture, intended to fail before they had even began.

What was this one made for?

Coming to a large sealed door, he found a computer terminal. Knowing that time was short, or perhaps more driven by impatience mingled with rabid curiosity, he pulled out his Infiltrator rifle. There would be no waiting this time. He would open the door and if there was anything lying in wait there, they would more than likely raise an alarm. He would have to take that risk.

Glancing over at the terminal, he immediately started to analyze the information on it.

He realized he was just starting to get answers.

* * *

Anthony was panting hard. Sweat rolled down his face in sloppy drops. He could feel the excess heat from his body billowing off of him. He had worked hard. They had pushed him through unarmed combat, stamina and endurance tests, a full obstacle course and a final run through with melee weapons.

He could tell that Lieutenant Macintyre had been quietly watching on in silent approval.

Now, told that he had finished the whole screening routine, Anthony could not help but sit down, arms locked around his knees while he tried to catch his breath. Silently walking up to him, Lieutenant Macintyre quickly reached down and wrestled a combat knife out of Anthony's grasp.

He had honestly forgotten he was still holding onto it.

"Not bad, recruit." Macintyre said quietly.

Anthony could only just start to feel his breathing starting to regulate.

"You sure you haven't done this before? It's almost like you're a natural at this." Macintyre remarked, eyebrow raised at the recruit.

Anthony stared at him, still breathing hard, but now out of fear. Could the Hierarchy man tell? Was his cover already compromised? He had done his best to look like a fumbling recruit but too many things had become second nature to him.

Lieutenant Macintyre suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oof!" Anthony coughed as Macintyre gave him a rather hard slap on the back.

"You're good kid, you're good. You got skills and apparently some hidden talent that not a lot of people possess. Welcome to the Hierarchy's Special Forces. Go to the barracks and get some rest. Your specialized training starts tomorrow at 0400 hours."

* * *

"…That's…it?" David asked curiously.

They had followed what used to be a major highway for most of the day. Then, when Joseph figured out that they had made it to the proper bend, they went off road and started heading almost directly north. The terrain had become rough and rocky. Worse, they were heading uphill and that was becoming tiring, even after all the long days of walking they had down previously. Still, they knew what they were looking for. A large, rocky outcropping that was elevated from the ground.

As they were told, provided they found the proper ravine leading into the rocks, they would fine Oasis.

"Sure looks like it. Now all we need to do is find the entrance." Joseph shrugged.

"Didn't Nicole say that they might not exactly be friendly? You think we should find a way to get in there without, you know, getting shot?" Isaac asked.

He suddenly found himself wishing the Lone Wanderer was here. It generally looks better when you bring a friend along rather than just a trinket they had on them. That could look rather suspicious, even if you were just a messenger.

"I think we're just going to have to approach cautiously. Remember, we cannot shoot at them." Joseph said, almost regretfully. He then shot a look at Suda.

"What?" Suda demanded, belatedly noticing his glare.

"I don't care how bad of a mood you're in. You can't go shooting at them if they shoot at us." Joseph explained.

Suda scoffed.

"You honestly think I have no self control?" Suda inquired in annoyance.

"I almost want to take your weapons away from you but I'm afraid of what might happen to me if I tried." David shrugged.

"Yeah, you better be afraid of what might happen if you tried." Suda grunted.

"Look, lets just focus. Keep your eyes peeled and try to look friendly. Remember, we're trying to raise our hands first, not our weapons. Got it?" Isaac asked.

"Got it." Joseph and David answered in unison.

"Sure." Suda rolled her eyes.

Furious let out a happy bark.

* * *

Somewhere just south of the Adirondack mountains, a covert Hierarchy team rushed through the darkness. Their weapons and equipment were extremely specific. In fact, many of the men carrying them had only heard about them in manuscripts and had never seen the weapons before in real life until know.

Their orders were specific. They were to remain unseen. They were to stay far from residential areas and major trade routes. They were forbidden to board the river transportation systems. They would have to walk their entire journey but it was all to ensure the highest amount of secrecy. Their optimal strike time was to be at night to limit visibility.

Their objective was simple.

Capture a relative of the Liberators.


	27. Chapter 27

_Indeed no deed goes unpunished_

_Evil or Good_

_The sins of our fathers still condemn us_

_And what good our fathers have done_

_Will only serve to haunt us_

* * *

Keeping an ever vigilant eye on the door to his side, Delta Sierra did his best to scan what he could from the computer terminal. Harder still, he discovered, was trying to type on the keyboard without producing any noise. After a few tense moments, Delta Sierra settled for using the directional keys to navigate through the directory. Of course, that meant his investigation was going to become that much painfully slower but he had to weigh the risks at this point.

The last thing he wanted was that centaur coming back.

"_Come on, Daniel, you can do this."_

After what seemed like ages, he finally hit upon a menu informing that it could give him the status reports on different…lab sections?

That was interesting.

Apparently, there were five different lab sections within this vault. To his disappointment Delta Sierra could not find any further information as to what these labs were researching but he decided that that would have to be figured out the old fashioned way.

It was never easy, was it?

Delta Sierra quickly glanced at the different lab sections.

_Lab 1 Status report. Operations. Normal. Activity: Processing underway_

_Lab2 Status report. Operations. Normal. Activity: Processing underway_

_Lab 3 Status report. Operations. Normal. Activity: Processing underway_

_Lab 4 Status report. Operations. Normal. Activity: Processing underway_

_Lab 5 Status report. Operations. Normal. Activity: Processing underway_

Delta Sierra dipped his brows in confusion and a growing sense of fear.

"_What does it mean by 'processing underway?' Have these labs been this way for the past two hundred years? What have they been' processing?'" _

Delta Sierra suddenly spotted one last directory.

_Artificial Intelligence Automated Operations Processor: Status: Normal_

"_What in the world is that?" _Delta Sierra wondered and furiously tried to figure out what it could possibly mean.

Quite belatedly, he realized something was watching him.

There, inches from him, the centaur was intently looking in his general direction. The centaur was obviously trying to figure out if he was really there or if it was merely seeing things

Too late.

Acting out of adrenaline surged - fear and pure instinct, Delta Sierra reached out and grabbed the creature's head, ignoring the vile saliva still dripping from the creature's maw.

_SNAP_

To both the centaur and Delta's Sierra's surprise, the creature dropped dead, effectively killed from a broken neck caused by Delta Sierra's reflexes.

"_Crap…crap…crap…what do I do now? Can those mutants figure out that it's not everyday things die from a mysterious case of a broken neck?"_

* * *

_Gunfire had opened up all around them. _

_ENCOM from their base of Block Island had ordered his team to do a multi-task mission. Foremost, they had to scout out the General Electrics building here in former Schenectady. They were hoping to find valuable pre-war information, parts, anything. Also on the list was to check the nearby islands on the Mohawk River to see if they would make suitable hidden bases. _

_ENCOM had been made of the former Carrier Strike Groups Twelve, Ten and Two. Those were the few surviving fleets left in the Atlantic when the bombs started to fall. Granted, not all the ships made it. 1__st__ Lieutenant Francis Garrett had heard that if it weren't for the fleets anti-missile systems they would have all been destroyed. At any rate, the survivors from the Atlantic fleets limped to Block Island off the coast of Long Island and tried to rebuild. _

_Now, two hundred years later, they were trying to win back New York. They were only loosely tied with the Enclave. Truth be told, Enclave Command was a name they choose only because they heard scattered radio chatter from the real Enclave group. The reality was that they were really just sailors, marines and fleet commanders. _

_They had little to do with the pre-war hidden government program. _

_And 1__st__ Lieutenant Francis Garrett was finding that New York was indeed a savage place. _

"_For crying out loud, they just keep coming! Who are they black armored monsters?" A corporal cried in panic, a round bouncing off of his power armor. _

"_Hold your positions. They might outnumber us but we have superior firepower and technology." Francis barked at the soldier. _

"_Sir, they __are__ starting to overwhelm us." Their medic said. _

"_Well, we have to hold. Shoot only if you know you can drop them." Francis replied. _

"_Meanwhile, do you have a backup plan, Fox?" a private inquired. _

_Very rare did people call him "Fox" to his face but he understood why. He had led dozens of exploratory teams and got them out of equally surmountable odds. Heck, he even led the very first spearhead mission back into New York. Sure, his daring plans sometimes meant losing contact with ENCOM for a couple days. At one point they had dropped off the radar for nearly a month before being able to re-gain contact. However, Francis had made sure to bring back everyone alive and with ENCOM knowing just how dangerous the wastes were out there, they could not really reprimand him. _

_The walls behind them exploded. _

"_They've set up a trap!" the corporal cried. _

"_Keep fighting! Francis shouted. _

"_They have us surrounded!" the private screeched. _

"_Then we know they're not going to get away! Now keep fighting even if it's the last thing you do. I better see you fight till you have no more blood left in you. It's your only chance to survive this. It's our only chance to survive this!" _

_And indeed, after all the others had fallen around him, after his power armor had been literally banged up beyond repair and his plasma rifle too hot to be touched by bare skin, after he had beaten the last Talon down with his fist, he fell to the ground. _

_1__st__ Lieutenant Francis "The Fox" Garrett had survived yet again. _

_Just barely._

* * *

Francis woke from the reverie of his memories going down the stream of history when he heard the vault door slide open. Sighing, he let his eyes glance down at the well used and worn plasma rifle that still leaned against the side of his desk before looking up again. He was about to have a meeting he would have rather not have but even he agreed it had to be done.

His eyes met those of his visitor.

"You called, Francis?"

"Yes. Have a seat, Adam."

* * *

They had found the path that they were told would lead them up to Oasis. However, the Spike Dogs did not feel comfortable about walking head on into the situation. Noticing the narrow rock walls that seemed to go forebodingly uphill, and the fact that everything seemed eerily still, did nothing but play rampantly with the Spike Dogs imaginations.

"So…you think they'll be more hospitable now?" David asked nervously.

"If they let Nicole in all those years back maybe we can hope they will be that more hospitable. Besides, times have changed. Maybe they have changed for the better. Or at least became more welcoming." Isaac shrugged in speculation.

"Willing to bet your life on that?" Suda demanded, while standing akimbo.

"We could just put you up front. I think they'd be less willing to shoot at a woman…provided you didn't scowl." Joseph said.

The others stared hard at him. With his countenance set and his monotone voice, it was hard to tell if he was being serious or sarcastic.

"Feeling a bit cowardly, Joseph?" Suda finally retorted.

"It was just an idea. I still have no problem going in first." Joseph replied calmly.

"Okay then, go first." Suda shrugged, waving her hands forward as if offering for him to go.

Joseph sighed, as if to steel himself, and then took a decisive step forward.

No longer were their strides long and unthinking. Instead, they now followed behind with very deliberate, quiet footfalls. Even Furious must have figured out something was up because he started to behave just slightly better. This mostly involved taking a few steps, looking up at them as if to wonder why they were suddenly going slowly, and then shuffling forward again.

Joseph was not sure what to expect and, his senses strained to their utmost, he could tell from the deliberate breathing of his comrades that they were on edge as well.

There was just no room to maneuver in this narrow cutting. The rock walls jutted like jagged barriers right next to them. Furthermore, Joseph knew that did not matter if he could see that the way ahead was clear. The Treeminders were familiar with the area and it was likely they were hidden away, waiting to ambush them just around the bend.

What exactly was he looking for anyway?

The wind shifted.

He heard Furious give a small growl in his snout.

All the confirmation he needed.

"Guys…just raise your hands…" Joseph said quietly.

"Why? You can tell they're here?" David asked.

"Where are they?" Isaac added, also reaching for the sky.

"I can't see them…but they're here." Joseph admitted.

"Well, they can't be invisible." Suda grumbled, begrudgingly copying their actions.

"I think…they've above us…hiding in the rocks." Joseph replied.

"Um…hey…we mean no harm. We uh…have the blessings of a…Treeminder…_what was her name…_Oak! Treeminder Oak!" Isaac said loudly while desperately trying to remember Nicole's name among these people.

Silence.

Suda let out a frustrated sigh.

"Joseph, are you sure you're not losing-"

And before they could react, it seemed as if four _things_ leaped from the rocks. Giving a quick glance, Joseph could see that they had been hiding under rough burlaps which did a good job of disguising their positions on the rocks. Even more bizarre was that they were wearing branches, leaves shaking with every movement of their bodies.

They were also shoving their assault rifles into the Spike Dog's faces.

Furious curled into a ball and began hissing and growling angrily.

"Why are you here? What have you done with Treeminder Oak?" one of the armed leave piles demanded.

Joseph raised an eyebrow at their interrogator. He had finally just picked out the person's face under the leafy hood he was wearing.

"Nothing! We came here on a journey. We're from a very faraway place and we had heard about Oasis." Isaac explained.

"T-this isn't good…people have heard of this place?" one of the branch people muttered.

"Shut up." Another branch pile scolded.

Joseph's eyes darted between them, wondering if Isaac was making this situation any better.

"We should just shoot them now." The original interrogator suggested.

"But they don't look like regular wastelanders. Look, they've tamed an animal and are apparently in harmony with it." Another branch person suggested in a hushed done, noticing the quills decorating the Regulators' coats.

Furious was still growling angrily in his spiky ball.

David, who had been surprisingly quiet this whole time, suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Hey, you guys, yeah, you stick people, I wouldn't be rushing to go knock us off. Besides, its clear that you guys just love your…nature stuff. Did you know that my friend over here can kill you here without a gun?" David said, grinning a bit too broadly for Isaac's liking while David motioned to Joseph.

Joseph shot him an appalled look.

The branch people suddenly became very motionless.

Suda was certain David had just nailed their coffins shut and cursed accordingly.

"No, I kid you not, he can do that. See that piece of wood going across his body?" David asked.

Joseph glanced at the bow that was indeed slung across his body.

"Yeah, he can kill you with that. From far away. Yes, he can kill you from a distance with his bendy stick." David chuckled.

The branch people were still motionless.

"It's called a 'bow,' you idiot." Joseph growled irritably.

"And get this, that's not all he has. He has this little leather string thing. It can hurl rocks. Hard. And kill you with it." David snickered.

"And that's called a sling." Joseph grumbled.

"So what do you think of that? You guys are trying to be all natural with your sticks but you got assault rifles and my friend can kill you with a rock hurling leather sling and a bendy stick. _Fershtay_?" David demanded, practically in the face of one of the branch people.

Isaac was silently making his peace with God.

Suda was still cursing under her breath.

"Do I have to beat you over the head with my tomahawk, David? It's called a sling and bow!" Joseph cried angrily.

"Get them to the Tree Father." A branch person finally said.

Bingo.

* * *

Delta Sierra had kicked the centaur's corpse off to the side off the corridor. The Enclave agent silently grumbled with the knowledge that it was a futile attempt to hide the ungainly thing. It was still there in plain sight but he didn't have any other options to conceal it. After all, he had seen no closets or other hideaways that this vault might offer.

"_I need__ to move quick."_ He thought.

Now that there was something to suggest that the vault had an unwelcomed visitor, he was now more than ever working against the clock.

Would this be the first lab level?

Stepping into the roam, blade held out in case he needed it, Delta Sierra cast a discerning eye on what he saw. All that lay before him were rows upon rows of lockers. They had recently been emptied as their doors had been left hanging wide open. Taking a moment to think, Delta Sierra decided that this must have been were those mutants got those rifles, the same ones he just saw the mutant army walk out with just before he got into the vault. After all, he could not think of anywhere else those weapons might have come from. He wanted to know how the rifles got there in the first place but that was not his primary objective.

Honestly, at this point he just did not care. He just wanted it over with.

Movement!

"_Oh come on, not another centaur!" _

Stalking off to the side of the room, Delta Sierra watched in fixed curiosity and apprehension as the centaur walked through the door he had just entered. Oddly enough, in its jaws, it was carrying a rifle. He could only assume the abomination had found it in the wastes.

And, as if it were a trained dog, it deliberately placed the weapon in a locker.

"_How did that thing not notice its fallen counterpart at the door entrance?"_ Delta Sierra thought, eyebrow dipped in skepticism.

Turning around, the centaur went back to the doorway.

"_Shoot, it had noticed._"

Then, contrary to what Delta Sierra was expecting, the centaur gripped the corpse in its teeth and then started dragging it along the floor.

Deeper into the lab.

While Delta Sierra contemplated what he thought to be yet another disturbing turn of events, or at least a very peculiar sight, one whose implications he was not sure of, he heard a slight humming.

Coming from further in the lab, he saw a small and energetically floating robot. It reminded him of the eyebots that the Enclave used but this one was much smaller compared to the Enclave's and did not seem to have the antennae either.

Only feeding the agent's curiosity, the little eyebot floated over a splotch of saliva that the centaur had left dragging off the corpse.

The eyebot emitted a soft blue light beam from its underbelly that flash vaporized the impurities. It took a couple moments but when the eyebot seemed satisfied that its job was done and the place was clean, it turned a 180 and disappeared back into the bowels of the lab as quickly as it had appeared.

"_Is this hell, a funhouse or a loony bin?"_ Delta Sierra thought, now more flabbergasted than afraid.

After a few moments of consideration, Delta Sierra decided that the answer was: "_All of the above."_

* * *

Everything had just gone too fast. At one moment they had just managed to convince the branch wearing people not to kill them and to let them in, next thing they knew they were before an older man, also wearing green burlap and an assortment of branches. In all the chaos Isaac was able to pick out "Initiation" and "Pass the test."

And, in the blur, the last thing Isaac remembered was a cup with some strange looking liquid being pushed in his face. It was indeed literally pushed in his face because the moment he opened his mouth to decline, he felt it being poured down his throat.

And now he could just feel himself waking up.

The day was still bright but Isaac reminded himself that was no accurate indicator of how long he might have been out. With his eyes still overwhelmed by the bright light, he could only squint and take in quick glances at the area around him. Around him he caught quick flashes of tress, vegetation and he was certain he had seen at least one pool of water.

"Geez, what was that?" Isaac heard Joseph grumbled.

"Oy vey…my head…and what was that chazerei?" David groaned.

"Mhghgghrrggh…" Suda blathered.

Isaac forced himself to get up to a wobbly start. His first step was extremely awkward and threatened to throw him off balance so he decided that half crouching would be a good achievement for now. At least he could now see. Off to one side Joseph was standing up, albeit holding his head as if it were about to split in two. David was sitting up with his palms over his eyes and quietly complaining to himself. Suda meanwhile was sprawled face down on the ground.

"…I…hate…Jet…and whatever this was…was worse…" Suda groaned semi-coherently.

"Where are we? Where is everyone?" Isaac asked.

"I would think they are just outside the grove now." A different voice answered him.

Isaac, David and Joseph stared wide eyed.

Who just spoke to them?

"Who - Who was that?" Isaac demanded, spinning around.

"Show yourself, I'm really in no mood for tricks." David added painfully.

Joseph meanwhile was reaching into his coat to frisk out a tomahawk.

"Whoa there, I'm just right behind you. No need to get excited." The strange voice replied.

Isaac spun around to find himself staring at a tree trunk.

"Now just turn you face up a bit more to the sky, kid." The voice spoke.

"Argh! Holy crap!" Isaac cried, jumping back several feet.

Buried in the tree trunk was a very disfigured but very definite human face.

"Oy vey…now I still know I'm still fercockt…I'm tripping about talking trees…" David muttered.

"This is…most unusual." Joseph let out.

"Oh no, this ain't no dream, son. My name is Harold and this over here is Bob." Harold introduced.

"Bob?" Isaac asked, investigating the trunk for another face.

"The tree. The tree is Bob." Harold explained.

"So…you're Bob?" Isaac asked.

"No, no. Listen carefully, now. I'm Harold. The tree is Bob." Harold said slowly.

Isaac stared stupefied.

"Uh…sure?" David replied.

"Wait…are you the Harold and Bob Nicole told us to say hi to?" Joseph asked.

"Nicole…Nicole…the young woman they called the wanderer or something? The one the others called Oak?" Harold asked, trying to recall.

"Sounds like that's the same one." Isaac answered.

"Ahhh, yes. Yes, it is nice to know she's still alive and safe." Harold seemed to nod, as best as he could anyway seeing that his face was rooted into a tree.

"I…am…still so high…right now…someone make…the ground…no more…spin…" Suda interjected in delusion.

"Poor shiksa is still out of it." David muttered.

"Will she be alright?" Isaac asked Harold, guessing he was the most knowledgeable one here of the situation

"Ohh…I guess. If she's woken up then she must be out in the clear…might be some time before her head straights out, though." Harold guessed.

"All right, seeing that you are a tree and…still talking…then I guess you would know the answer to our quest." Joseph said, trying to get down to business.

"Ah, right, we've traveled a long distance just to, well, ask something from you, I guess." Isaac agreed, brightening up.

"Really now? Did you? And what might you be asking of old Harold?" the tree asked.

"We need some of your seeds. Our land is still desolate and barren. We were hoping we could take some of your seeds so we could have actual vegetation back at home. Our grandmaster thinks it will help our land re-grow and prosper again." Isaac replied.

"Hmmmm…well, I ain't got nothing against you folks taking some of the seeds. But, I got to warn you, the others, those branch minders as they call themselves, they might not take too kindly to that. They're kind of protective of me, you see, especially after Nicole got me to getting growth spurts. They know it's a matter of time before my growth stretches beyond their control. Still, they will try to protect me for however long they can." Harold warned.

Joseph was already busily harvesting seeds from various plants as well as from pods that were growing off of Harold.

That left Isaac and David to figure out how to best get out of the situation.

"You think they'll just let us walk?" David asked.

"Maybe. We can only pray they will." Isaac replied, reaching down and hefting Suda up on his shoulder.

"Mrgghgh…stoppit." Suda slurred, clearly irritated by all the movement.

Joseph meanwhile finished his task and stared at the collection of leather bags in front of him. All these miles, all the dangers they faced, all those days of walking and here before him was the goal they had been working for. Here, as Francis had explained, was probably the key to their future. Here, in these humble small grains was the power to spring forth an abundance of growth. He held in his hands the very things that could help to secure a better future for him, his people, his friends. Instead of his children having to face a bleaker life, they could have hope for a better future.

And he remembered they were only halfway down.

They still had to make it back home.

"Harold, it's been good meeting you but we really have to get moving. We have to go back home." Isaac informed, still holding Suda up.

"It's been good to meet you all too, in what little time we had. May you walk back safely…and whatever you do, if you see a vat of green goo, don't step in." Harold replied cryptically.

"Uh, sure, thanks." Isaac replied before stepping towards what he assumed was the wooden door.

"This was so weird…" David muttered.

Joseph could only cradle the seeds in his hands as he slowly started to conceal them in under hid duster. He felt so privileged to be carrying such an important burden.

The first thing Isaac bumped into having opened the door was the old elder that seemed to be in charge when they first arrived.

"Now…since you have seen the secret of Oasis, you now know all the more clearly on why I cannot let you leave." The Tree Father told them.

* * *

Sven hobbled up to the docks section, Cindy standing by his just in case he needed to be stabilized. The pyromaniac was finally well enough to leave his bed and although his body was still sore he was more happy to finally be out in the mostly fresh air. He had become fed up being confined to a bed. Nearby, Carl was approaching them, apparently on a stroll while James was sitting on a nearby box, seemingly idling away.

It seemed to be just like any other day at Albany. Behind all of them Julia was leaving the tavern, and having spotted them, was walking over to join their company. James was letting The Boys handle the perimeter for the moment while the others kept about their normal routine. Sven still had not been able to get back to the workshop but he had been told everything was still progressing along in his absence while Asimov took over his duties in the meantime.

They looked over to see Alexandra leaving her ship, the ever reliable _Half Moon_.

"Hey, Carl, Sven, James? Adam left early this morning to go meet with Francis. He said he honestly had no idea what it could possibly be about. Do you guys have any insight to it?" Alexandra asked curiously.

"Hmm, nope." Carl shrugged.

"Don't ask me." Sven replied.

James simply did not reply.

"Hmm…alright…" Alexandra sighed.

And as if on cue, one of the high speed Regulator patrol boats motored up to the dock. It had barely dropped anchor when Adam pounced off of the ship. The moment he landed on the ancient wood of the pier, he rapidly stalked over to the others.

"James!" Adam shouted angrily, as he approached.

James sighed, as if bracing himself, before standing up.

"James, care to explain something to me?" Adam snarled, still quite too far to carry on a normal conversation though he was quickly closing the distance.

Carl, Sven and Alexandra exchanged concerned and confused glances. It was apparent that something very serious had happened, but what, they did not know.

"There is nothing to explain, Adam. I have to fill those reports out as soon as I notice the signs. You know that." James replied, deadly calm.

Adam grabbed James by the lapels of his duster, and pushed the medic back a short distance.

"What's wrong with you? I thought you were my friend!" Adam growled, absolutely livid.

"I am your friend, why do you think I had to fill out that report?" James said, clearly becoming irritated by the tone of the discussion.

People were starting to watch from wherever they stood in the town.

"Fill out that report? That's it? You just decided to send that recommendation of retirement to Francis without even talking to me? Why did you do that?" Adam demanded, still latched onto James' coat, veins standing out on his arms.

"Hey boss…maybe you should calm down." Carl tried to caution.

"I _did_ try to talk to you first. You did not listen." James retorted.

"…You son of a-"

The sound of flesh and cartilage smashing resounded across the wharf.

"Adam!" Alexandra screamed.

James found himself on the ground, dazed from a blow to the nose. Amazingly, he found that he was not bleeding though he decided it was due more to the fact that he had been hit one too many times there.

"Whoa, dude, Adam, that was not called for." Carl said, putting his hands up to signal that they all needed to calm down.

Julia was already running down towards the scene.

"I thought you were my friend, James. Did you really have to do that?" Adam snarled, the tendons on his neck standing out.

James shakily hauled himself off the ground.

"Adam…you can't be leading men out in the wastes anymore. You can't be going out by yourself anymore. Any more exposure to those stealth boys and we just may lose _you_ for good." James warned.

He felt Adam's fist explode across his chin.

"Adam!" Carl shouted.

"Adam, stop this!" Alexandra cried.

James was busy making sure his jaw was still in alignment.

"What good is your advice anyway? What did you know about that one bastard keeping all those women under lock and key that you murdered!" Adam snapped spitefully.

"Okay, you know what? Now I'm pissed." James growled.

Both men charged each other, fists flying.

"Adam!" Alexandra screamed.

"James, get off of him! Stop this!" Julia lashed.

Sven felt every sore wound still healing in his body light up and started hobbling as far as possible from the carnage as possible.

It looked like it was going to end for a moment when James had Adam hanging from an arms length, holding the man in the air with his mechanical prosthetic but it quickly ended with Adam kicking him in the rib. Both men ended up wrestling on the ground amid yelling and screaming.

"You two faced backstabber!"

"You're time is up, Adam!"

It finally ended with Carl reached down, grabbed both men by the scruff of their coats and held them off the ground, his strong arms keeping them in the air.

"You two done with this nonsense because I'm really tired of watching it." Carl scolded with a grimace.

Adam and James were glaring at each other.

"You write to Francis and tell him you're taking it back." Adam snapped.

"Retire, Adam." James retorted.

Adam cursed.

"I'm still in charge of this squad, James!" Adam shouted.

James did not reply. He wanted to tell him that they were men who had been too banged up by the years to continue Regulating. He wanted to tell him that their squad had ceased to actively function as a unit a long time ago.

None of them wanted to admit it but the Liberators was now more legend than reality.

"Let go of me, Carl. I'm going home." James finally sighed.

And with that, the giant let James go. Dusting himself off, James simply stuffed his hands in his pocket and marched back to his house, Julia in tow behind him.

* * *

The Carbide Tempest troopers were making their way back towards the Brotherhood base. Their appointed time of holding sentry duty on the east side was up and they could now begin their furlough as soon as they returned.

Brotherhood and Enclave forces had been slowly marshaling around the east side. Enclave still insisted that they had solid evidence that a fresh wave of the New Human Effort mutants was enroute to the city. The Brotherhood had no choice but to believe and were all the more convinced by the number of power armor troops their former rivals were placing on the east side. Vertibird pilots kept a constant and vigilant patrol over the area.

The tension in the atmosphere was thick and still, some of the knights had their doubts.

"You think this is all just a show, Paladin?" Felson asked Lowell.

"Part of me still wants to say yes, Knight. Still…I don't see how they can be using this as a distraction." Lowell admitted.

"If that army is as big as they're making it sound, then they must be really concerned about it, considering how many troops they keep sending to the lines." Hardings said.

"Makes sense." Birns nodded.

"Well, let's wait and see what happens. I'm sure if we keep together and the Enclave do their part, we'll pull through all of this when it happens in one piece." Evelyn replied.

"I like that idea." Hardings chuckled.

And, quite unexpectedly, a canister suddenly dropped in their midst.

The Carbide Tempest troopers heard more than felt the electromagnetic pulse engulf their armor.

Lowell immediately felt the internal components of his armor die, their humming fall silent. Before he knew it, he crashed to the ground while his armor refused to respond to his commands. He was completely immobile.

"What the heck is going on?" Hardings shouted.

"EMP! EMP! Our power armor is fried!" Felson reported frantically.

"I can't move!" Birns shouted.

Lowell heard his sister screaming.

"Get off me!" Evelyn was shouting.

Lowell summoned all the strength he could, forcing his barely responsive armor to move. He felt like he was wearing so much lead and it took an eternity to simply flex a muscle.

"Evelyn, what's going on?" Lowell demanded.

"Get off of me! Get off!" Evelyn screamed.

Lowell could not turn but he heard a kick followed by someone groan.

"Subdue her!" a voice ordered.

Several more kicks, someone growled in anger.

"Evelyn, what's going on?" Lowell demanded, trying to fight the panic rising in him.

He distinctly heard his sister let out a pained cry followed by silence.

"Bind her! Get that hood over her head! We got to get out of here!" A voice ordered.

Lowell suddenly became aware of a large and heavy revolver being pressed his forehead.

"Don't try to follow us. We know who to contact. Await for us to send word to you. Don't do anything stupid if you want to see your sister again." The assailant warned before once again disappearing from his view.

"Evelyn!" Lowell shouted, still trying to process what exactly was happening. It had all transpired way too quickly.

And all he heard was silence.


	28. Chapter 28

"_Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves."- Rev. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin_

"_The earth destroys its fools, but the intelligent destroy the earth."_

_Khalid ibn al-Walid_

"_Do not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us. This is not the case."_

_-Rabbi Maimonides_

* * *

Elder Hail's glare did not relent as he sat stone still behind his desk.

The silence was only punctuated by Paladin Lowell Vanderbraun's deep breathing, rage and shame still hard on his soul as he fought to catch his breath.

"You have no clue who your enemies were. You only know that they were smart enough to use electromagnetic weapons to stun your armor, render you immobile and in doing so they were able to capture and abduct Knight Captain Vanderbraun?" Elder Hail asked.

"Yes, Elder. I was not able to get a good look at our attacker. He only left me with a message." Lowell replied, summoning every ounce of self control he had to not rage at his superior that this was the _second_ time he answered these questions and it was wasting precious time.

"And what was that message, Paladin?" Hail inquired.

"'Don't follow us, we will contact you.'" Lowell repeated.

There was silence before Elder Hail seemed to slump forward for a moment, his brows deep in thought as he ran through the possibilities.

"Did it seem like it was the Enclave?" Hail finally asked.

"No. They moved too quick and were too silent to be wearing Enclave power armor. Plus we _saw _them. They were not hidden under stealth boys or other cloaking technology like Enclave infiltrators." Lowell admitted, gritting his teeth.

"And it would be absurd for Lab 18 to do that and they are the only other people we know who have access to electromagnetic pulse weapons." Hail mumbled, still thinking.

"Elder, you must let me and my men investigate and get back Knight Captain Vanderbraun." Lowell argued, finally breaking from posture and stepping closer to the elder.

"Paladin, our Enclave collaborators have managed to intercept intelligence of a very large army of super mutants headed our way. They will be here any day now and as much as I would like Knight Captain Vanderbraun back, I need every man for the upcoming battle." Hail replied.

"We can't just let them get away with her!" Lowell shouted, feeling his anger grow.

"You heard them tell you yourself that you should do nothing and that they would contact us. Ransoming is sophisticated among wasteland enemies but it is not unheard of and it is now our best bet at getting your sister back unharmed." Hail argued back.

"And what if they are lying?" Lowell shot back, becoming increasingly frustrated.

Elder Hail let out a very worn sigh.

"Lowell…go out by yourself. Contact the Regulators. Do not send any of our own scouts. Go back to the Regulators, go back to your family. Bring our sister, _your_ sister, back home." Elder Hail said quietly, scarcely above a whisper.

Lowell, at least relieved that he was given permission to do something, saluted and made his way to the door.

Outside, Knights Birns and Felson as well as Initiate Hardings stood up eagerly awaiting to hear what Lowell had to say as soon as he stepped out of the door.

"Your orders, Paladin?" Birns asked anxiously.

"Birns, you are in charge unless the Elder puts another superior over you in my absence. I have to go on a solo mission." Lowell replied.

* * *

As the miniature eyebot was rotating to return deeper into the labs, Delta Sierra stealthily if frantically fell into tow behind it. This was his only chance to slip through the door behind the robot and get further into the lab without raising any more suspicion.

He was very thankful for the synthetic material his boots were made of that dampened the noise of his footfalls.

Watching through his visor, he saw the heavy steel doors open up to let the robot pass through. So far the little machine did not seem to have a clue that something was not that far behind it and Delta Sierra quickly found out that there were no other detection devices beyond the door because just as he passed the threshold the doors slid shut behind him.

As far as he knew, no alarms had gone off.

Letting the little machine continue its course, Delta Sierra quickly stalked along the walls so that he could safely take a closer look at what this roomed contained.

His instincts told him that this place was what the terminal called "Lab 1." As far as he could see, it looked like there were row upon row of liquid filled pods. From where he stood he could not tell what exactly the specific contents of the pods were, but he quietly noted that each pod was, ominously, large enough to contain a super mutant.

Cautiously altering his path so that he would could get a little closer to one of the pods, he carefully peered inside. The pods seemed to be elliptical in shape and the material that they were made of was dark, similar like glass in that it was translucent, but still dark and foggy.

And empty.

"_That's peculiar. It is quite possible that I am not in Lab 1 but I don't see how this could not be Lab 1. If that terminal up there reported correctly, and this is Lab 1, then what exactly is being processed here?" _Delta Sierra thought, feeling uncomfortable about the whole matter.

Before he could react the pod suddenly shifted over as if on a conveyer belt. After it had moved to the side by about five feet, another pod came out of the floor and took its place. All the other pods seemed to do the same thing. Leaning forward, Delta Sierra decided to inspect what this new pod might contain.

Nothing.

"_Weird."_

The agent continued to the large door that he assumed would take him deeper into the vault.

* * *

Sven hobbled back into his workshop. He barely noticed the pile of completed explosives lying neatly in one corner courtesy of Sarah who had filled in his place during his recovery. Sarah herself had looked up from her own table when Sven walked in.

"Good to have you back, Sven. Feeling better?" Sarah asked cheerfully.

Sven simply grunted.

"Oh, okay, well, I hope you find the bombs up to your standard." Sarah replied nervously, sincerely hoping that she had _indeed_ wired the explosives up correctly.

Sven barely even glanced at them and instead got to work with the parts in front of him.

"They're correct. You would have blown yourself up if you got them wrong." Sven replied.

"Hahahaha, good one, Sven." Sarah forced laugh, feeling very uneasy.

Sven merely stared blankly at her.

"I wasn't joking." Sven answered.

"Oh…" Sarah said, quite unsure how she felt about that.

Sven immediately set to wiring up a detonator.

"Hey, you don't seem to be in a good mood and my bacteria samples just don't seem to be doing so great either. Do you mind me asking what's bothering you?" Sarah asked.

"Adam and James just got into a fight." Sven grumbled.

"What? Those two? Over what?" Sarah asked, her mouth dropping in shock.

"James filed a report to our grandmaster suggesting that Adam retire." Sven sighed.

"Really? The stealth boys have caught up to him that bad?" Sarah inquired, completely forgetting her experiments.

"I'm crazy, but the majority of the voices in my head are starting to agree that Adam has it worse…in a different way." Sven shrugged.

Sarah decided to disregard parts of that statement.

"That must be rough for you guys though since you have all been friends for a long time. Plus it doesn't help that he basically has to admit that your team has to be put out of commission. Were you guys really that good? Did you four really change New York that much before we got out of the vault?" Sarah asked.

"Twenty years ago there were roving armies of gangs and nomads. Some of them were worse than others. It seemed like the only way to survive was get into a gang. Caravans barely even existed and it was considered a foolhardy job. Then, Francis sent us down into the city and somehow we managed to clear out the ones that were doing the most damage." Sven explained.

"Just you four?" Sarah asked in shock.

"We had help, but yes, we got most of the credit."

"Wow, you guys must be very brave." Sarah replied.

"Nah, we're just too crazy to know better. Well, _I'm_ too crazy to know better."

* * *

_1__st__ Lieutenant Francis Garret was dimly aware that, having bashed the face in of the last black armored attacker, his consciousness flickered for a moment. The power armor felt extremely heavy over him and, like a light burning out, his consciousness left him. _

_He was becoming aware that it was now coming back to him. _

"_Whoa there, you're waking up, easy now. You don't want to hurt yourself." A gravely voice said. _

"_Wh-where am I?" Francis asked, letting the sights of his surroundings bombard him. _

"_Just a little north of the city." A softer yet just as gravely voice answered. Francis could only assume that voice was talking about Schenectady. _

_His vision finally clearing, Francis found that he was in the company of ghouls. At first he wanted to jump. Enclave from the remnants of the Atlantic fleets had only spotted ghouls from the distance and was still just yet discovering that there were some ghouls that had gone feral but that did not define all of them. _

_Plus, he figured, if they were going to eat him they would have done so already. _

"_What happened?" Francis asked, still dazed. _

"_You got into a fight with that army of thugs that decided they should own that city. Mighty nice of you to make our favorite scavenging grounds safe again but it nearly cost you your life." The male ghoul replied. _

"_Sorry about your power armor but it was beyond repair and if we were going to save your life we had to get you out of it. If it means that much to you it's lying in pieces back in the city." The female ghoul explained. _

_Francis simply grunted, both from the pain of a headache and the regret of losing a very valuable piece of equipment. _

"_But your rifle still works fine. We kept that for you and your batteries." The male ghoul offered, showing him his plasma rifle and remaining microfusion cells._

"_Great." Francis muttered._

_The ghouls were nice enough to give him something to eat but, as soon as he felt he could tolerate the pain of his still not completely healed wounds, Francis made it obvious that he intended to leave. _

"_I wish I could repay you, but I don't have anything on me." Francis replied, returning the energy weapon to his back. _

"_It's okay, soldier. These are bad times. My wife and I lived in this city before the bombs fell. We've been here ever since. Things have gotten worse…sure would be nice for things to get back to the way they were back in the day." The male ghoul sighed. _

"_Yes…it would certainly be nice. But that's just a dream, isn't it?" the wife muttered. _

"…_Is there anyone trying to restore order?" Francis asked curiously. _

"_That's what I assumed you soldiers were trying to do, but every time we see a vertibird, and those are rare, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of you." The husband admitted. _

"_Hmmm…thanks." Francis muttered. _

_And, with that, Francis turned around and made his way south. _

_Francis had walked several hours south, his head bent down the whole time. He knew he should have been looking up for danger but he was still too deep in thought. He immediately regretted his contemplation when he found himself literally in talking distance to a group of men. There were only about four of them. _

_They were all wearing long, green dusters. _

"_I don't want any trouble." Francis simply stated, as firmly as possible. He kept his hands at his side, neither going for his rifle or surrendering either. _

"…_Relax, son. We don't want trouble either though we intend to get rid of it. We're from back out west. We knew that there might be places here in the east that needed help…You looking for work, son?"_

* * *

James, his jaw still smarting from yesterday, helped Asimov prepare the still molten metal to be readied for their finished products. The making of an Excelsior rifle, though not terribly expensive, was not a process that could be rushed. James made sure a high degree of quality went into these rifles. After all, he depended on an Excelsior rifle himself.

He had also decided that after lunch he would leave Asimov to handle the factor while he would go to his usual spot on the northern end of the city. It would be nice to get back to watching for any intruders. With all the trouble brewing around them, it would be a wise idea to have an extra set of eyes watching that side of the city. Besides, that side of the town was usually quiet, which greatly appealed to James at the moment.

Overhead, he heard what had become the constant drone of the Lab 18 helicopters, still stuck with taking over the caravan trade. The Adirondacks and other northern parts of the former state were still a warzone and aside from the bullets and desperate armies seeking to requisition supplies the plague was still being reported. Unfortunately, Lab 18 scientists were unwilling to properly dispose of the possible virus vectors in the middle of a war zone.

James was purposefully letting his mind travel because if he didn't he would be reminded of how he was still mad at Adam.

His thought process was abruptly shattered when the factory door close to him suddenly swung open with a bang. Staring in shock, he almost pinched himself at what he saw. He could scarcely believe that there was a fully armored Brotherhood of Steel standing in his doorway.

Or was that…?

"Lowell, you are rather difficult to identify in a full set of armor." Asimov exclaimed, looking over from his work.

James cast a quick glance at the robobrain before looking back at the Paladin. By now, Lowell had breathlessly removed his helmet so that there would be no doubts about his identity.

"Lowell, what are you doing up here?" James asked.

"Dad, we got a problem."

* * *

Adam and Alexandra had both finished lunch and Alexandra was starting to put the dishes away. They had spoken only briefly, she had reminded him that he should probably apologize to James. However, she knew not to press it. She had already told Adam her opinion on the matter and she could tell that the metaphorical noose was tightening around her husband's neck. She felt sorry for him, she really did. Regulating had become all that he knew how to do and somehow he had gotten trapped into it.

They heard the door swing open and scarcely had time to register that Carl was closing the gap between them and the door.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Carl asked.

"No." Alexandra answered, unsure of what was happening.

"I'm just sitting here." Adam replied sullenly.

"Good, we got to see James." Carl announced before easily grabbing Adam like a rag doll and hefting the man on his large shoulder with ease.

"Darn it, Carl, put me down! I'll apologize to him when I'm good and ready!" Adam cried.

"It's not about that, you have to come. James specifically told me to get you." Carl answered, almost apologetically.

"Then whatever is it about?" Adam demanded.

"Evelyn has been kidnapped." Carl replied, face almost dropping.

That piece of information hit both Adam and Alexandra into speechlessness.

Outside in the Albany streets, the residents could tell something was amiss. Even the former vault residents understood that an ill wind had suddenly descended upon the town, they just were not sure what exactly the news was. Everyone, watched with curiosity and anxiety as Sven rapidly hobbled from his workshop to the Vanderbraun resident, quickly followed by Carl who was _still_ carrying Adam over his shoulder.

Not sure how he fit in the entourage, Whiskers the rat also scrambled into the house hot on Carl's heels.

As far as the discussion went, it was brutally short to say the least. Lowell was agonized that he couldn't give more information. In the end all he could tell them was that Evelyn had been abducted by unknown assailants and that they would get back to them later.

When Lowell had finished his story, the others sat in silence, save for Whiskers who was curiously sniffing around the room.

"Electromagnetic weapons…didn't Lab 18 have those?" Adam asked.

"Yes…but it doesn't make sense that they would do it." James shrugged, quite certain that the gravity of the situation had not hit him yet.

Not so Julia, she was already fighting back tears.

"T-they have good equipment and they've certainly been trained in kidnapping people." Julia said, a dangerous placidity of worry and anger.

She immediately felt James' hand shakily wrap around her own.

"We'll get her back, okay?" James whispered.

"I don't know, doc, you think we should start searching for her?" Carl offered.

"Where, though? Lowell said he couldn't get a good look at them and even then we haven't the slightest clue on where to look." James replied.

"The doc is right. In this situation our best bet is to wait for them to contact us, give us a location and then try to plan a trap around them, as difficult as that may be." Adam explained.

"And…that's honestly the best plan we have at the moment." James admitted.

"Ahem…should I get out the dual missile/mini-nuke launcher?" Sven asked.

"Sure." Adam replied with a roll of his eyes.

Julia was nervously chewing her lips.

"_Anthony, come on, are you getting anywhere with your investigation?" _Adam thought furiously, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.

* * *

At that moment, Anthony was grateful to take a rest in the barracks. Training was done for the day. It was growing a bit difficult trying to play the role of someone who was new to the use of stealth boys, sabotage and weapons but it was a part he had to play nonetheless. His life depended on it. He was not sure just how the Hierarchy might figure out his true identity but he was more concerned on what exactly would happen to him if they did.

Lieutenant Macintyre had been running them hard but the Hierarchy soldier did know that he couldn't run them into the ground. He needed his specialists to be hardened but not broken. Anthony could take quiet solace in the fact though he trained harder than the other soldiers he was able to enjoy marginally more down time.

He noticed one of his fellow specialists in training enter the barracks. Anthony honestly did not remember the man's name. He was doing his hardest _not_ to get to know any of them and was constantly reminding himself that he was going to get out of here at the soonest moment possible.

"You're not going to believe it, man." The soldier announced, a wide grin on his face.

"What?" Anthony asked.

"Covert teams just managed to abduct a hostage. You'll never guess who it is." The soldier said.

"I'm not in the mood to guess, care to tell me who it was?" Anthony asked, worry creeping in on his stomach.

"Not sure who it was exactly, only that it was someone close to the Liberators, one of their relatives. General Omedea plans to use them to get the Liberators' attention." The soldier replied, clearly excited.

Anthony had to summon every ounce of self control he had not to pounce on the man.

It was very hard to maintain his façade. A feeling of anger and panic flowed like molten lead on his bones while frozen fear and worry strangled his stomach. Still, he knew the whole thing would be over if he revealed too much.

And over could also very much apply to his own life if he did not play his cards right.

"Uh…wow, that's…awesome." Anthony sputtered, praying that his "dull surprise" act held.

And then an afterthought hit him.

"Hey uh, do you know where they're holding this hostage?" Anthony inquired cautiously.

"No clue, man. What, hoping you'd get to see them in real life, caged and all?" the soldier chuckled.

Anthony wanted to strangle him.

"No, that's classified but rest assured, they're probably working to beat all the secrets out of them as we speak." The soldier remarked and then left.

Devastated, Anthony gaze fell to the floor. He was torn. He had to continue his investigation but he wanted desperately to rescue his friend, whoever that friend was. He quietly hoped that the Hierarchy somehow botched its research but that was something he knew was beyond hope.

As Anthony sat and contemplated his situation, he had a sudden epiphany

Maybe it wasn't exactly what Adam was looking for, soldiers disguised as raiders or other factions but it was still a crime nonetheless. Besides, it was still something just as serious. He had to get back to warn the Liberators.

…But how was he going to escape? The Hierarchy military would go after him for going AWOL.

Aw, screw these guys, he thought. What was that pre-war saying? "Always go out with a bang?"

Well then, he'd go out with a really big bang. Just for kicks.

* * *

Delta Sierra quickly activated the console that would open up the door on the far end of the lab. It was the very same door he saw the centaur and eyebot disappear into previously. Unsure of what to expect anymore, and finding the experience more surreal than ominous by now, he quickly stepped through the doors as soon as they lowered and quickly ordered the it to shut again.

At this point, he almost wondered if there was going to be some sort of demented joke waiting for him at the bottom of the lab.

A more rational part of him thought that that wistful desire was more fantasy than probability.

Once again scuttling along the walls, Delta Sierra found that he was in yet another stairwell. This one was descending, yet again, deeper into the earth. He didn't really expect it to turn out any other way but part of him was still hoping for pleasant surprises. It looked like he would still have to keep hoping.

Blade out once again and every muscle ready to strike, Delta Sierra carefully stalked down the stairwell. Rounding the corner of the stairs, he paused to take a moment to survey his surroundings. After a couple seconds of tense silence, the Enclave agent decided all was clear. Taking a breath to steady himself, he got to the bottom of the landing and prepared to hit the console.

Another breath. Another chance to calm his nerves.

The door slid open in one smooth motion.

Delta Sierra likewise stepped to the side of the threshold. Immediately gathering that there were no other potential hostiles in the room, he stepped beyond the doorway to prevent the heavy steel from closing on him.

Glancing back to make sure his tracks had been covered, he looked ahead to get a better look at the room he stepped in.

Any twisted humor he'd managed to cling to before he entered this room immediately vanished.

He was afraid again.

Very much so.

* * *

General Omedea had personally left the Estate to meet with the covert team at the hideaway they had established. He had been most pleased with their results. The hideaway itself had probably been a mine before the war. They currently were in the remains of what had been the main office. The Hierarchy's commanding general had been most pleased with this capture. Already, the men of the covert team were gathering the necessary supplies. They would probably be here for some time.

Interrogation was a lost art from before the Great War but one that they were slowly starting to piece together.

Before him, clothed in the typical Brotherhood recon armor, was a thin, but physically fit, young woman. Dark hair fell from the bottom of the burlap hood that they had placed on her head It was easy to tell from her rigid posture that she was making a brave effort not to betray fear but, alas he could detect the slightest hint of a whimper.

That and the trembling of her hands were a dead giveaway of how truly frightened she was.

"Remove her hood." General Omedea ordered.

One of the soldiers roughly removed the burlap sack covering Evelyn's head. She let out a cry of pain when some of her hair got caught in his grasp. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she snarled at the people around her. Since she had never seen any of the Hierarchy's forces before, she was unable to do more than surmise that her captors were neither raiders no Enclave.

And she did not like the way the smart suited one in front of her was staring at her.

"Leave us." General Omedea ordered.

Evelyn immediately felt fear constrict her throat.

She involuntarily jumped when the last of the exiting solders slammed the metal door shut behind him.

"You have your father's hair color, and I have to assume that you have your mother's eyes." General Omedea commented.

Evelyn told herself to say nothing but continued to keep a wary eye on the man in the suit.

General Omedea chuckled.

"You are indeed trying very hard to keep up a brave face, I'll grant you that. Unfortunately, you're giving away some very important secrets as we speak." General Omedea remarked.

Their attention was drawn to the slight tremble of her hands. In an attempt to hide it, Evelyn grasped the chair that she was tied to.

She watched as the man started dropping items on a nearby table.

Jet.

Mentats.

Buffout.

Med-X.

Vodka.

Med-X.

To her horror, she noticed the man smile darkly when he caught her faint back tracking glance at the syringes.

Now fueled by fear, Evelyn was horrified to find that her trembling was now spreading to the rest of her body. In a last attempt to hide what she was feeling, she stared blankly ahead. She refused to look at the man. In her mind she was forcing herself to concentrate on the wall in front of her, carefully studying all the pockmarks and stains, praying that somehow she wouldn't break.

General Omedea sat on the edge of the table the table and folded his arms in front of his chest, letting out a satisfied chuckle.

"Our...interrogation methods...can be a bit…intense. Of course, if you cooperate, it won't hurt nearly as much.." Omedea said quietly, almost in a comforting whisper.

Evelyn was glaring at the wall, still refusing to look at him.

General Omedea approached Evelyn and cupped her chin in his hands, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. It would be a pity to let such an opportunity slip through his fingers.

Sighing with mock resignation, he said "Still, just in case you decide to take the hard route, you're going to be spending some time with me first. You'll be no good to me if you're on death's doorstep."

A sickened knot formed in the pit of Evelyn's stomach and her heart sank when she felt him slowly undoing her armor. Although she wanted to pull away, to scream, to something, _anything_, to stop the inevitable, she couldn't. Nothing was working.

This, unfortunately, was not a nightmare.

It was worse.


	29. Chapter 29

_Sometimes the road to hell is not in fact paved with good intentions_

_Or rather, good intentions for everyone_

_Love can bring a soul closer to heaven_

_Unless it is love for one's own ego_

_An angel fell from heaven because of that_

_How much better would man fare for the same crime?_

* * *

Delta Sierra stared in horror at what he had stumbled upon. He was acutely aware of the cold sweat that was starting to roll down his forehead but that was only a side note. The true reality was that he was struggling to process of the sight before him.

The lab that he was currently in wasn't that much different from the one above. It shared a similar layout and design and it too had the translucent pods. However, where the floor above only had a few pods, this one was absolutely crowded with them. Those pods had been empty. These were not. And that was what made this such a horrifying sight. It was plain for Delta Sierra to see that something was growing inside them.

Super mutants.

They were in various degrees of development. Some were simply large blobs of cells. They already resembled an ominously large organism. The other pods showed just how those blobs continued to mature. Some appeared to be nearly complete in their development, showing nearly mature mutants.

The one pod he was watching contained a mostly developed mutant. The abomination's eyes were closed and its body was slightly curled so that it would adequately fit within the pod. Still, Delta Sierra could see that its muscles were fully developed. He wondered in morbid curiosity just how much more it needed to grow before it was complete.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the pod left its place on the floor and was lifted to the floor above by a long mechanical piston.

Delta Sierra decided he should hurry off to the next lab.

* * *

Life among the Treeminders, as Isaac learned they called themselves and as Nicole explained, was not so bad. The Spike Dogs had managed to find ways to assimilate themselves into the culture, even though they were only there about a week.

David was showing the people how jerry rig various things together when they could not be easily repaired. Despite his limited medical knowledge, Isaac was able to help with a few things he had learned from his dad back in New York. Suda begrudgingly accepted the situation, but she did help out the other women for lack of anything better to do. Joseph meanwhile was teaching the Treeminders on how to construct bows and use a sling. Most of them found the sling a bit complicated so he was now in the process of helping them produce their first batch of bows and arrows. They were hoping that with enough training and familiarity, they would be able to switch over from firearms to archery.

Even the children had come to love Furious despite everyone knowing that he was generally bad mannered and really only wanted snacks.

Still, Suda was the most vocal on their predicament.

"I don't care if they're being nice to us. A soft, fluffy cage is still a cage. We're still prisoners." Suda grumbled when the group was sitting together.

"Bide our time, escape at first possible opportunity." David agreed, sitting back as his folded his arms in front of his chest.

"I know that, but the question is how we're going to get this done. Some of them are still armed and I wouldn't doubt their marksmanship." Isaac whispered.

Furious shuffled by, grunting as he did.

Joseph, having been listening in on their conversation, walked by with an armful of the still incomplete bows.

"Why do you think I'm teaching them a very long and complicated bow making process?" Joseph asked quietly.

Isaac, David and Suda looked at him with inquisitive glances.

"Are you driving at something?" Suda demanded with a raised brow.

"Making a bow is simple. One can readily be made by taking a particular wood strip and boiling it." Joseph shrugged.

"…So why are you having them collect bones and material to laminate them to the bow?" Isaac inquired.

"A much more complicated process. When the time is right and the bone has not yet set to the wood, we'll have to make sure that we steal their ammo clips. That's when we'll make our escape. Their ammo will be missing and the bows will simply fall apart in their hands." Joseph smiled mischievously.

"They've been awfully nice to us, though. Sure hate to pull the carpet from under them like that." Isaac muttered, a hint of regret on his voice.

"I kind of understand you, but dude, we need to get home." David replied, thinking of his wife and daughter.

"Amen." Isaac replied.

* * *

Julia constantly carried the weight of worry and dread with her. It was bad enough that Albany needed her supervision, and the Liberator's return to their town duties just barely dulled that burden. Still, the weight paled in comparison to the fear she felt for Evelyn. Her only daughter was missing and she had no idea as to what her fate was. The only hope she had were the words of Evelyn's captors and that was barely any comfort. Both she and James did their best to keep that hope alive but as the days dragged on worry started to give way to despair.

And then, one crimson morning, Otto who had been watching the northern approach to the city rapped heavily on their door. The two found him panting breathlessly, having run the distance between his post and their house. Between fighting to get air, Otto coughed out one word.

"Refugees."

James, Julia, Sarah and Sven quickly hurried over to where the former vault security men had set up a road stop. The freshly trained vault security officers now wore green Regulator dusters over their blue jumpsuits and security armor. Furthermore, they all carried energy weapons as, for some reason, all of them showed an affinity for them. It wasn't easy but all of them had been determined to be properly equipped.

The energy weapons were probably the only thing keeping the large crowd of wastelanders back.

"Thank God you've arrived, Mr. Vanderbraun. We might have a riot on our hands if we don't give a good explanation to these refugees." One of the vaulties breathed nervously.

"When did these people get here?" James asked, looking the large crowd over. From his guess, there was about fifty of them. Off in the distance, his sharp eyes could pick out small groups of people still coming their way.

"Got here just recently, shortly before you did." The vaultie replied.

Julia cast a quick glance on all of them. They were all covered in dust. That, combined with the fact that some of them had cuts on their feet, she decided that most of them had walked quite some distance. Of course, another possibility was that they had moved quickly, like they had tried to escape something. Regardless, all of them looked tired, breathless and the air around them reeked of desperation.

"Where are you all from?" James called, trying to get information.

"From up north, just below the Adirondacks!" someone from the group shouted.

"And why are you all coming here?" James called back, standing on the tip of his toes.

"The war up there got worse and the plague is spreading." A different person replied.

"Plague" sent chills rocketing down James, Sven and especially Julia's spines.

"Red plague?" James asked for clarification, his voice now starting to fail him.

"Yeah? What other plague could there possibly be?" an older man demanded grumpily.

"So can we now pass into the city?" a woman holding an infant asked worriedly.

James let out a tormented sigh while Sven tapped his foot in anxious contemplation. Meanwhile, the vault security men and Sarah looked at them in expectant curiosity.

"Your orders, sir?" a security member asked.

James ignored him and called back to the crowd.

"I'm sorry, but all of you will have to camp outside the town for at least a week before we let you in." James replied.

He was met with an upset rumble from the crowd.

"Quarantine. We need to make sure you all are not infected before we can bring you into the safety of the town." James replied back.

"What about the people behind us?" someone called.

"You will all separate into the groups you came in. Try to maintain minimal contact. I know this is all very ridiculous but we need to do this so that we don't get the disease ourselves. We can't have an outbreak here." James explained.

"But we came here to escape it! We can't have it!" someone shouted angrily.

"This town is our responsibility. We cannot take any chances." James snapped, brows dipping below his glasses in frustration.

"And who made you the expert on this?" someone else growled.

James glanced over at Julia. He had half a mind to call her over. One had to look very closely, it wasn't obvious, but Julia still had small pockmarks on her skin and face. They were subtle but powerful reminders of her close brush with death when she had a bought of the Red Plague.

She was also very self conscious about them.

Thinking better of it, James instead pointed to the L stitched on the sleeve of his duster.

"This. I've seen this plague before and my friend here and I have disposed of the bodies of those infected." James explained, motioning to Sven.

Sven simply nodded, his blast helmet and breathing mask bobbing with his head.

"I don't want to clean _yours_." James said darkly.

People became very cooperative after that.

Julia meanwhile had told Sarah to run off and get some supplies for her. In the meantime, she had to hold an emergency meeting with the rest of the vault security members. In some ways, they had started to take over most of the security within the town. Now, it was the most logical choice that they would have to be responsible for helping them get over this new crisis that was building up.

"I hate to spring this on you guys but we're going to have to break you up into shifts." Julia started apologetically.

"But we're already on daytime and nighttime shifts." A guard said, supposedly trying to be helpful.

"I know, but we're going to have to break you down further. The problem is that these people may have the plague. It's transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids but that means they can cough and if you breath saliva in or if it gets in your mouth or eyes, you will get it. It doesn't take a lot, the saliva can be microscopic but that's all it needs. Trust me." Julia explained, trying to hide a shudder as she tried to suppress the memories.

"So we're getting protective equipment?" someone else asked.

"Yes. You should still keep your distance but you will have to direct the groups of refugees coming. Keep each group separated so that way there is no cross transmission. This is going to be a very hectic time but if we do this right, we can do this so that no one dies…and if on the off chance someone does have the disease…casualties will be minimal." Julia explained.

"So the new shifts mean…?" another guard asked.  
"You men will also have to follow your own quarantine. We'll have to keep you men out here and away from the rest of the town while you're still working with the refugees. We'll arrange for a way for your families to visit you safely, but we have to do this for everyone's safety." Julia apologized.

The vault men certainly weren't happy with the news but Julia could tell that they were already trying to be good sports about it.

"Yay…vacation…" one guy jibbed tongue in cheek.

"Yes, yes. Now, let me tell you what symptoms to look for." Julia started just as Sarah came over and dumped the supplies on a nearby table that they set up.

* * *

It had taken a couple days of planning and plenty of nerve wracking encounters but his plan had finally been set up. Anthony realized that although he had accomplished the mission Adam had given him, finding evidence for the Hierarchy's wrongdoing, he was still far from finished. He was still stuck behind Hierarchy lines and under the guise of a Hierarchy soldier. He could not simply leave otherwise they would peg him for desertion.

Anthony then considered donning his duster and trying to slip out disguised as a visiting Regulator. However he knew he couldn't just take on the duster. The others here would instantly recognize him. After that it wouldn't be long for them to realize he had been spying on them the whole time. That would undoubtedly lead to a summary execution. Not that any of this mattered anyhow considered that Anthony had left his duster in Albany.

So, Anthony decided to leave with a bang.

All the while, as he snuck past the guards, broke into the armory and made off with the stolen goods, he could hear James Vanderbrauns' words. They had been warnings back in training that they should always seek to minimize casualties, even among the enemies.

But Anthony's rage boiled. The Hierarchy had broken all the rules and then hit them where it really hurt. Another problem was although he was certain they had taken someone he cared about, he had no clue which person they abducted, much less knew where they might be.

Screw the fact that his "unit" had little to do with it. Anthony was going to give the Hierarchy a taste of their own medicine. Sven style.

Anthony waited till around midnight. Around him he could hear the other Hierarchy soldiers snoring. For weeks, all of them had trained in sabotage and other clandestine skills. The irony was not lost on Anthony. They had essentially taught him how to pull this off.

Latched under each bed was a block of remotely detonated high explosives. Anthony had deduced that they were pre-war equipment. He was very happy to find those in the armory. He was also more than happy to swipe them.

Dressed in the Hierarchy fatigues, he gathered his satchel. He had to keep it light so that if anyone spotted him they would not be too suspicious. Still, he had to make sure he had the bare minimal equipment.

His heart starting to race, he looked into the bag to make sure he had everything. There were spare caps, a few cans of Cram, enough, he hoped to get him to the next neutral river port. He had a few daggers, a vial of the radscorpion venom he had grown dependant on for the darts for his simple blow gun and a 10mm pistol. He also carried a spare change of clothes so he could ditch the military fatigues and simply become another wastelander.

He could only hope it would be enough.

Quietly slipping off his bed, he made his way to the door.

"Hey, Anthony, where are you headed off to?" a voice whispered.

Anthony looked over at to see that one of the fellow trainees had spotted him.

"Just taking a walk, man. I can't sleep. Maybe a walk will clear me up." Anthony lied.

"…Alright, suit yourself." The soldier shrugged before rolling over to go back to sleep.

Anthony took a deep breath and slipped outside. Letting his heart calm he stepped off to the side, into the shadows beside the barracks. Once he was certain he was alone and no one had seen him, he pulled up the sleeve on his wrist to reveal a stealth boy.

A small click was heard and he effectively vanished into thin air.

Now a vapor, Anthony quickly changed out of the fatigues and into the wasteland clothes. The discarded garments now visible on the ground, but still effectively shrouded by darkness, Anthony knew that he now had to take off. Running as fast as his legs could silently take him, he knew he had to put as much distance between himself and the perimeter while he was still a ghost. He had only one more stealth boy on his person and that was to be used for emergency purposes.

He knew this stealth boy would only last so long.

Winding through the ruins and decrepit foundations of houses that once stood, Anthony knew he had to keep going south west. Still, he needed to put more distance between himself and the main city of Haven.

His stealth boy suddenly dissipated.

It was time.

Crouching behind the crumbling walls of a house, Anthony reached into his satchel. Glancing over, he saw a pool of festering water that had gathered in what had once been the building's cross base. Perfect. Quickly running through his list of things he had to keep in mind, he knew that from here on in, unless he felt he was getting cornered, he would not be allowed to use that last stealth boy. Now he had to depend on silence and the cover of darkness to shelter him until the dawning of the sun. When he saw sunrise he hoped to be far away from the Hierarchy.

Now to make sure they would be busy.

Anthony removed the remote detonator from the satchel. He glanced at the weapon and for a moment he started to think of Lieutenant Macintyre and the other men he had trained with. Again he could hear James Vanderbraun lecturing them to keep casualties to a minimum.

A snarl formed on his lips.

"See you in hell." Anthony hissed.

Off in the distance, a fireball rose to the sky signaling that at least one section of the Hierarch's barracks just winked out of existence in a violent explosion. Far from the actual destruction, Anthony was sprinting back to the Regulator cities. He hoped people would just accept that his body had been vaporized in the blast.

* * *

As Delta Sierra stepped forward to allow the heavy door to close behind him, he searched furiously for another computer terminal or some other source of information. The sight of a facility dedicated to producing super mutants was alarming enough. However, Delta Sierra was more worried that this was only the second floor. He had to know what was going on down on the last two floors and he did not care to find more super mutants down there, whether they were still being developed or not.

Still, something was bothering him. The way the facility on the second floor was laid out, it looked like it could produce a whole army on its own. If such was the case then _what_ were those last three floors for? He certainly did not want to find out with his own eyes.

Not spotting any sources of information, Delta Sierra took a deep breath to calm himself and steady his nerves. Fighting dread that threatened to topple him, he spitefully accepted the fact that he would have to do this the old fashioned way.

Once again flattening himself against the wall and crouching down to make sure that he would be out of sight, he inched his way down the stairs. Right now, the only noise he could hear was the machinery from deep within the vault echoing and humming as it continued its labor of producing super mutants. At the moment, possibly because of the nervousness chewing at him, it seemed to be the only sound he could hear. Finally making his way safely to the door, he activated the proper console and watched as the giant barrier slid up.

Nothing in his previous twenty years of wasteland espionage experience could have prepared him for what he saw next.

* * *

A tense atmosphere settled on the northern outskirts of Albany. For now the vault security Regulators were able to keep order but it seemed that everyone's blood pressure was several units higher than normal. Sarah, still out from her laboratory, kept a constant vigil over the scene and tried to help out where she could. She had grown up with a lot of the men who were currently on the security team. Also being friends with Julia helped her keep painfully aware of just how difficult the situation had become.

It had also become nightmarish scene of paranoia and ragged emotions.

Green coated Regulators equipped with full breathing masks that covered their eyes with cold glass goggles formed a perimeter along the main entrance to Albany, making sure no one tried to breech the quarantine. By now, additional Regulators had been called up to help the vault security team. The veteran Regulators loathed the role. They were wandering vigilantes, not riot squad occupiers.

On the other side, it was becoming clear that the refugees were resenting the idea of being stuck on the outskirts of the town. To them, they were clearly uninfected. It also did not help that there were no standing shelters to accommodate them and protect them from the elements. Assurances that the Regulators and town volunteers were doing everything they could were not appreciated. But James had been insistent and the people that were old enough in Albany to remember the last plague certainly did not want to run the risk. In the mean time, tents from Brahmin hide were hastily being erected outside the Albany limits. Julia and Sarah also hurried to form an emergency area just within the ruins that was more sheltered where more vulnerable refugees would be admitted should the situation become desperate.

Along the perimeter, a woman, clearly frightened, ran up to one of the goggled vault security Regulators wheezing into his breathing mask. The vaultie held up a palm to signal to the woman to approach no further. Panting heavily, the woman caught her breath before coughing out her words.

"Supermutants…to the north…they're coming…" the woman panted, eyes flashing with panic.

The vaultie just looked at her, his expression inscrutable from the breathing mask.

"Okay. Just stay calm. They are nowhere near here." The Regulator said through the muffling of the mask, hands still keeping a relaxed grip on his plasma rifle.

"But…they're coming closer! They'll get to us!" the woman cried, breathing still ragged.

Those nearby that heard her also became alarmed. Now most of them were looking expectantly at the Regulators with their weapons and breathings masks. Why weren't they rushing forward to shoot down the mutants?

"Just wait, okay? It will be all right." The vault security man assured.

The refugees were not very convinced. Only to further heighten their fears, it appeared that the mutants had spotted them. Their distant figures were starting to grow, signaling that they were nearing the area.

"You can't just stand there! You can't just let us die!" the woman cried.

"Lady, look." The security Regulator retorted in exasperation, pointing in the distance back at the mutants.

Turning around, the refugees spotted that somehow the mutants were now lying very motionlessly on the ground.

"The doc or some other sniper holes up in the ruins watching the outskirts. They make sure to deliver high speed head trauma to anything that gets too close." The Regulator explained.

* * *

Lowell had taken to moping. He could not train like he did back at the Brotherhood base. There was no one to spar with and he decided that with the growing tension out there with the refugees, target practice would not be a good idea. Gun or energy fire might accidentally spook them. He felt bad for his parents. He was on edge enough but they had to deal with their missing daughter and the refugee problem on top of that.

Perhaps they simply busied themselves with it to help with the waiting. At least, they all silently but furiously prayed that they would be waiting. With each passing out despair's dark cloud seemed to encroach ever further around them. They wanted Evelyn to still be alive, they needed a chance to bring her back safe.

Standing by the docks, Lowell watched the ships float eerily in the water. The whole thing would have probably been peaceful if it were not for the knowledge that it seemed like everything was being set against them. Still, that was not foremost in Lowell's mind. The Brotherhood Paladin only felt rage that his sister was out there and there was not a single bloody thing he could do about it. He had easily killed super mutants with his bare hands and knew how to drop most enemies with any gun known to man. Still, all of that meant nothing now.

Frustrated, Lowell's armored fist slammed down on one of the wooden beams anchoring the dock into the riverbed. It left an indent on the flat of the wood.

The sound of ships starting to power up caught his attention. From the northern part of the river Lowell could see a flotilla of ships starting to close in on Albany. They appeared to be of all different makes and sizes.

Many of them also appeared to be loaded with passengers.

He saw Carl leave his ship and immediately started rushing off towards the direction he assumed Julia would be. Meanwhile, his ship, the _Hammer_ made an approach to the visiting flotilla. Poseidon's voice could be heard over a megaphone.

"Albany has currently set up a quarantine. If you are fleeing from the north you have several options. You may remained quarantine aboard your ships for the duration of a week, or you may beach ashore towards the northern section of the city where you will abide by the rules of quarantine and specialists will tend to your needs. If you do not like either of these options, you must either pass on through or turn around. You may not immediately enter Albany."

Carl had rushed off to warn them that their migration problem had jus increased exponentially.

* * *

Delta Sierra could see nothing but red and pink shades reflecting off his visor. He was glad that his sense of survival was strong enough to keep him absolutely silent and composed because he was certain he just got a little sick in his mouth. He had seen blood. He had seen terrible injuries and bodies horribly split open or destroyed in ways that they should never be. Heck, he had been the one to cause such atrocities half the time.

But for all those years of being yet one of the more dangerous hunters of the wastes, this sight far exceeded them all.

It was as if the floor was a giant cauldron of body tissues, blood, exposed organs, shredded flesh and exoskeletons. Glass walls showed and endless flow of the gore cascading from the upper levels to collect in a pool below the metal of the floor. A heavy, translucent pane in the center of the floor showed all of the waste tissue collecting into the center where it apparently disappeared into a lower level. He could even hear the sickening thud and splash of the gore slamming against the pane.

Watching one of the waterfalls of blood, he noticed the body of one of the centaurs starting to descend lower into the hell. He immediately recognized it. It was the one whose neck he had broken. The body continued to slide and tumble until it too washed into the lower pane and then disappeared into the open maw that swallowed all the gore.

Stepping around the clear glass, as if afraid the pane would fall through and he would be drowned in a tide of red, he quickly dashed off to the door to descend deeper into the vault. Anything to get him as far away from this sight.

Where in hell was he going?

* * *

A darkness was now hanging over Albany. The tense masses of refugees had settled for their cobbled together habitations while they waited for their quarantine periods to pass. On the Hudson River, the Regulator boats, with the _Hammer_ as their flagship, enforced an impromptu embargo. Not that it really mattered Trade ships had altogether ceased passing through for months ago anyway.

In the center of the Hudson, Carl's _Hammer_ sat anchored. He had ordered Poseidon to make sure that the guns were not manned, they were already in the negatives as far as public relations went and keeping someone posted at the weapons wouldn't help. Instead, he kept a regular patrol of men at the bow. The guns were indeed loaded but he figured a constant watch was less threatening.

Besides, he really did not want to blow a boat full of desperate refugees out of the water.

He looked over to the starboard where the _Half Moon_ was also in anchor. Alexandra had made sure the 40mm cannon was in clear view but that too was otherwise unmanned. No one in Albany liked the situation. Carl was certain everyone in the city felt for the refugees. However, they also knew that should the plague break out within the town _everyone_ would lose.

"I really don't like this, boss." Poseidon grumbled.

"Keeping people out instead of letting them in?" Carl asked, leaning on the consoles while staring out from the bridge windows.

"Something like that." Poseidon nodded.

"I don't like it either, buddy." Carl muttered almost apologetically.

"Hospitality is one of the many things I miss from the old world. Trust me, I still remember it despite my faulty memory. I figured this was the stuff the bad guys did. Never thought I'd find myself doing it." Poseidon sighed.

"Me either, Poseidon. I just wanted to be a fisherman. I only became a Regulator because…I had to leave home and as much as I like peace, I realized there would be none if no one cleared out the bad guys. Back then it was easy as knock off a few raiders…now…keeping desperate and scared people out of town? It's not simple anymore." Carl muttered, eyes downcast.

"Well…you became one of the Liberators. That must count for something." Poseidon offered.

"…I don't know anymore, buddy. When I was younger it didn't seem like a big deal. Twenty years later…look, I've carried a lot of heavy things in my life. But that thing just seems to get heavier with each passing year." Carl admitted.

* * *

One of the vault Regulators, still huffing into his gas mask, noticed a single lone figure coming up the road. That single new comer was making his way through the refugees. It was not a hard task since the exiles tended to keep to themselves to avoid any possible transmission. The Regulator watched this man intently through the glass of his mask. There was something about him that the Regulator did not like.

The man wore the Brahmin leather of a wasteland traveler. However, around his shoulders he wore a long brown coat. The Regulator was certain that under that coat was at least one weapon if not more.

"Stay back." The Regulator warned when the man got too close.

"I have a message for the Vanderbrauns. It concerns their daughter." The messenger said quietly.

He was immediately surrounded by three vault Regulators, their plasma and laser weapons pointed at him as he was roughly escorted into Albany. At a double pace, they marched him right up to Julia, James and Lowell. The traveler's message was rather short. He spoke as he handed James a sheet of paper.

"That is the location of your daughter. She is safe. For now. Meet there in two days so that you may negotiate for your daughter's return. You bring how many men you want but only _you_ may speak with my leader. Furthermore, I would not suggest holding me captive. If I do not return to my leader with the word of your compliance, your daughter _will_ die. Understand?"


	30. Chapter 30

_Fallen angels we may be_

_Angels who swept the dust with our wings_

_But still fallen indeed_

_Wings frayed and feathers singed from the fire of the wastes_

_And tonight the demons will come out again_

_Fallen angels, we carried the light_

_But some dark still clings to us_

_And when night falls the demons come out again_

* * *

They were ready.

It had taken a couple days of planning but now that everything was accomplished they were jumping ship this evening. Suda admitted she was actually a very good pickpocket. ("Look, it just comes with the trade, all right?") That being said, it was her job to break into the supply box containing all of the Tree Minders' ammunition. Since they had gotten excited about Joseph showing them how to operate bows, they had since set aside their rifles and placed all the unused ammo into a single box. Having covertly lifted the ammunition without anyone noticing, she gave the bag full of stolen goods to David.

David immediately brought it into the grove, having been given privileges to speak with Harold at his leisure. Harold was sympathetic to their cause and it was the tree's job to watch the box of ammo. David was in fact burying the ammo box of stolen bullets into a hole. Isaac had been insistent that they simply cripple the Tree Minder's. The idea was that when they made their escape, the Tree Minders would not be able to find their bullets. Only after they were long gone would Harold tell them where to find it.

Finally, the last part of the plan was actually very passive in nature. The natural laminate that Joseph had shown the Tree Minders to use on the bow needed more than just a day to set. In other words, if the Tree Minders tried to use the bows that evening the weapons would fall apart in their hands. Joseph was going to leave a note explaining to them that all they really needed to do to make simpler but just as effective bows was to boil water and skip the bone laminate.

Finally, just to be sure, Joseph had made sure that they had not made arrows yet. That could be explained in a note as well.

In the end, all they needed to do was wait for the evening.

They were leaving.

* * *

Lab 4. After he investigated this lab there would only be one more to go through. Still quivering from the horror he had seen, Delta Sierra did not have high hopes for what he might find on this floor. He especially wondered what exactly all that blood and tissues were being used for. So much of it was presumably descending into this lab. Where did it all get funneled into?

The Enclave agent, still under the cover of the stealth suit's influence, made his way into the lab. The walls were still glass panes but this time he was not quite sure exactly what he was seeing. Sure, there were still pinks and reds from blood, gore and tissue but new colors were in the mix. There were greens, black and some shades he was not quite sure he had a name for. Furthermore, the different colors swirled and faded, growing and shrinking in no seemingly distinguishable pattern.

It would actually be kind of pretty except that he had a sinking feeling those colors had their origins in bodily fluids.

Creeping up to one of the computer terminals, he watched the screen, realizing that the computer was set to run by itself. He did not need to hack the computer but he could not make sense of what it was trying to tell him. Numbers and words flashed rapidly by. What kept repeating were the words "Organic sample" followed by astronomical numbers. Finally, the words "rejected" and "discarded" kept repeating.

However, every now and then, the phrase "accepted and stored" would show up.

A disturbing thought occurred to him.

"…_Are they…testing these samples?"_

* * *

Over twenty years ago, Adam Anders, James Vanderbraun, Carl Thompson and the man called Sven put on their dusters and swore to uphold the law and bring peace back to the New York wastes. Within the last decade the four men known as the Liberators ceased to function as a unit. They existed only as a legend. The shadows of four legends ceased to fall on the crumbling streets of New York City and the rocky sands of the New York mountains.

But today they put their dusters back on and shouldered their weapons once again.

Decked in his long coat while his metal armor gleamed with the promise of unstoppable force, Carl heft his gatling laser while his super sledge still hung comfortably on his back. Stepping past Sven's workshop, he spotted the pyromaniac just as Sven emerged in the entryway. Sven's face was hidden behind the wheezing and huffing of his blast helmet and breathing apparatus but it looked like he still knew how to carry his Incinerator and shotgun along with his large backpack stuffed with all sorts of highly explosive implements.

"You also bringing the dual fatman and missile launcher?" Carl asked, motioning to the large jerry rigged launcher that could fire both mini-nukes and missiles, a mess of wires hanging out its side.

"Just in case." Sven shrugged.

"You planning on exchanging atomic rounds?" Carl inquired, raising a curious but sympathetic eyebrow.

"_After _I set them on fire." Sven nodded confidently.

"…God bless you, Sven." Carl sighed.

"Ready?" Adam asked, marching up to them. His duster had been cleaned but they could hear the familiar jingling of daggers and throwing knives rattling under his coat. At his hip was a cut down Infiltrator rifle while a Chinese longsword hung on the other.

"As good we'll ever be. James coming?" Carl asked.

"I'm right here." James called out for them to hear. His old medicine bag hung ready to go from his shoulder. They could also see his infamous Excelsior rifle behind his back. They were also certain a plasma pistol and his palm blade machete was also under his coat.

His son, Lowell, was following along his side, decked in the Brotherhood armor while sporting a laser rifle.

"So what's the plan, doc? This is Evelyn we're talking about." Adam started, hands on his hip, revealing the stealth boy that never left his wrist.

"Look, we don't have anything conclusive but I think we're all thinking that everything points to the Hierarchy. Still, even if its W.C, we cannot go in there guns blazing." James replied.

"James, we have to teach them a lesson for-"

"Hierarchy or no, if we go in there guns blazing, we may set off a war. Albany and the Regulators are in no position to hold back any kind of army. No. We have to do this diplomatically." James cut Adam off.

"Look, I'm sorry I punched you, but we really need to lay down the law here." Adam asserted.

James sighed before taking a moment to reply.

"Adam, this isn't about the fight. It's just we now have to realize we're now responsible for a lot more people than we once were, plus we're dealing with something more complicated with than petty gangs. Tell you what, if they do turn out to be just petty raiders, you can sneak in, get Evelyn out and then I'll gladly let you have at it with those bastards." James replied, a wry but worried smile coming on his face.

"Deal." Adam nodded.

"Hey, she'll be okay, doc. She's a strong girl." Carl reassured, patting James on the back.

"We should get to the ship." Lowell said, still used to giving out orders.

"Right, lets go." Adam agreed, leading them towards the docks.

* * *

Somewhere back there, between the painful blows, the humiliation and the verbal abuse, Evelyn somehow managed to separate part of her consciousness from what was going on with the rest of her body. Sure, somewhere in the back of her mind she was still feeling the burn and agony from all the torture, physical, verbal and psychological. However, part of her, her innermost box, had managed to not care anymore.

She was thinking of better times. Every time she had gotten hurt or was feeling sad, if something bad had happened or the younger kids had been mean to her, her dad and mother would have been there for her. If anything, that little fuzzy bundle of mischief called Rat would at least have been at her side.

Her dad always used to tell her that the world had adopted a lot of lies. Lies such as women were valued only for their physical attractiveness or that they were somehow "second class people." James and Julia never settled for their kids to accept any of that propaganda. They wanted their kids to dream and then to chase them. If they changed their dreams, that was fine, they would still root for them. The only rule was that they had to dream big or just dream something where they would at least be happy and healthy.

She wanted to smile, those were good times.

Unlike this hell that she was now going through.

Honestly, she was hoping they would outright kill her. Somewhere along the way she started to believe that maybe her tormenters were right, or at least they had somehow taken something from her. She no longer felt humiliated. She felt…damaged. Spent, used up and defaced.

She prayed they would kill her so that she would not have to face the thought of doing it herself.

* * *

The Liberators had taken a fast Regulator patrol boat up the Hudson. It was decided the agile craft would be a smarter and more inconspicuous choice than taking up one of the heavier ships. For now, the patrol boat was manned by four of the vault security Regulators. They were instructed to wait on the river while the Liberators negotiated Evelyn's release.

The designated rendezvous point, when they got to it, seemed just as depressing as the situation. Just a simple mining installation entrance built into the mountains. Adam, Sven, Carl, James and Lowell were apprehensive about approaching the building. They were not giving any detailed instructions other than to meet at that building. They were unsure as to whom they would be meeting or if it would be a trap.

"You think we should go inside or wait out here?" Carl asked quietly as they paused outside the building.

"Let's go inside." Adam decided, quietly opening the door before taking a quick glance around to make sure there were no traps waiting for them.

He was immediately met by four men pointing their assault rifles at him.

They wore the familiar armor of the Hierarchy.

"Are you James Vanderbraun?" one of the soldiers demanded.

Adam slid the door all the way open to reveal the others.

"James is this guy." Adam said, rolling his head in James' direction.

"Only he may speak with the General. The rest of you will have to wait outside." The soldier explained.

"I think we all need to go with him." Adam growled.

"His daughter can die, you know?" the soldier reminded.

"There are many of you and only one of me. I ask that at least my son here accompany me." James replied.

They heard some whispering, an exchange of words including one man entering and exiting a door before a final word was given to them.

"Fine, but you need to remove all your weapons. Drop them." The soldier ordered.

The Liberators and Lowell all exchanged dissatisfied glances.

"…We'll do it." James relented, glaring at Adam who wanted to protest.

Lowell was far from comfortable with it but, his helmet left back at home, his face betrayed no fear as he placed his laser rifle on the floor. James followed suit and dropped his pistol and rifle as well on floor. He also showed the soldiers that his medical bag held no weapons, only healing components.

Lowell tried to hide his surprise that his father was sneaking in his machete.

Adam also tried to hide a smile as he noticed James stealthily slide the blade down his belt so that it would be hid behind his back and under his coat.

"Alright, come in you two." The soldier ordered.

No sooner had James and Lowell stepped inside, the other soldiers slammed the door shut behind them and barred the door with a heavy iron beam. James and Lowell immediately felt their stomachs grow cold with fear, compounded each time Sven, Carl or Adam banged on the door, their shouts of protests penetrating the door and echoing off the wall.

Another door opened and James heard a very familiar voice.

"We meet again, James Vanderbraun."

"…General Omedea…" James said as calmly as he could.

* * *

Delta Sierra stalked down the final stairwell. This was his last lab he would have to investigate. He hoped that he would find his answer down here at the very bottom of this macabre vault. A new sense of resolve and determination welling within him, he unsheathed his knife and activated the door console, waiting for the heavy slab to ascend.

He was expecting one last room full of horror or other abominations. He was prepared to take on a behemoth in this room. Instead, his startled and perplexed gaze fell upon an empty and sterile looking space.

In the center of the room sat a lonely computer terminal.

* * *

Evelyn was tossed to the floor like a rolled up and discarded rug, her legs and arms bound while her mouth was gagged shut. James winced with the bang that his daughter hit the surface but tried to keep his composure.

Lowell did not hide his contempt.

"You're a smart man, Mr. Vanderbraun. You're the Liberator's doctor and sniper. Your wife is a scribe. You built your own rifle to suit your own purposes back in the early days of your career. You are intelligent. That is probably why you're not coming in here guns blazing. You know exactly what will happen if something happens to me." General Omedea said, lighting a cigarette while his countenance betrayed no emotions.

"Hierarchy forces will descend upon Albany…something the city and the Regulators will have little preparation for." James sighed in admittance.

"Good job. Then, I hope you keep this short and simple." Omedea replied.

Lowell bent down to untie his sister but stopped mid motion when he heard the sound of four guns locking on him.

"Uh uh, not yet." Omedea scolded.

Lowell did not bother being subtle about his growl.

"Careful, Lowell." James whispered.

He heard Evelyn whimper on the floor.

James had never felt more helpless. All of a sudden they were his kids again, young children back in the day and he wanted to do everything he could to protect them. However, in spite of his every insticnt screaming at him to do something, he sensed that there was something far more dangerous than any death claw in the room in the form of General Omedea. Another problem was that he did not have his rifle on him.

"What do you want from me?" James asked carefully, trying to remain calm.

"Simple, James. We need Regulator support to turn back the Western Coalition and we need your medical know how to turn away the Red Plague. You will help us with your full cooperation. After all, W.C are merely raiders and this is your precious daughter that is at stake." Omedea explained, mockery hanging on his voice.

"You arrogant bas-"

"Lowell!" James scolded before turning to address the Hierarchy general.

"Regulators are in no position to do that. Twenty years ago when we fought Lab 18 on Liberty Island we lost more men than they did. We are not soldiers. As for the plague, you can't do anything about it, you can only evacuate the area and wait for it to burn itself out." James asserted.

"James…I thought you cared about your daughter…" Omedea replied in mock sympathy, retrieving his pistol and pointing it at her.

"Don't!" James snapped, finger raised at him.

Lowell looked like he was about to bolt and run over the general, only sheer force of discipline holding him back.

Evelyn was trembling on the floor.

"I think I can understand though…haha, you think your little princess there was a nice little girl? Turns out she wasn't exactly innocent before I got to her. But that's okay, James, I can see why you wouldn't care for her." General Omedea egged.

Lowell lost it, eyes flashing, as his horrified father reached out to stop him.

"I will tear you limb from limb!" Lowell roared

"Lowell, don't!"

**_BLAM_**

* * *

Outside, Adam, Carl and Sven heard the gunshot. The three men looked at each other in horror before glancing back at the door. Their pounding and beating on the steel renewed with vigor.

"James! James! What's going on in there? Talk to me!" Adam shouted.

"I'll melt this door off if you don't open it!" Sven shouted through his mask.

"Should I beat the door down?" Carl demanded of Adam, readying his super sledge.

"I'm serious! I do know how much heat it takes to melt metal! Don't doubt me!" Sven hollered.

"Go for it, big guy." Adam nodded.

Carl swung at the door.

"Oh come on!" Carl growled when the steel merely dented under the swing.

"Keep going, come on!" Adam encouraged, trying to fight back the panic.

"Aaarrrgghhh!" Carl screamed, starting to assault the door with newfound ferocity.

* * *

James felt the blast of the bullet echo through the air. He distinctly caught the sudden flash of the muzzle as it momentarily lit the room. Still, despite the shock and the fact that his ears were still ringing, he heard one sound that immediately made his heart sink lower than he ever felt it go.

The sound of metal power armor crumpling to the ground.

Instinct kicked in, immediately James was on the floor, cradling Lowell's head. Before he could help himself, he was already belting off questions as calmly as he could.

"Lowell, Lowell, talk to me…where were you hit?" James asked quietly.

He saw more than felt liquid running down onto the palm of his metal prosthetic.

Lowell never answered him, eyes staring blankly as a red hole painted his forehead.

"Lowell…Lowell…" James repeated, realizing just how futile it was, how futile everything really was.

"…I'll miss you…son…Just…wait for me and your mother…we'll see you soon…" James finally stammered, trying to blink back the water he felt behind his eyes as he felt his throat become too constricted to speak.

He ignored the blood on his hands as he gently closed his fallen son's eyelids.

"What kind of kids are you raising, James Vanderbraun?" Omedea asked, taking another drag from his cigarette.

James only spotted Evelyn's horrified stare back at him while angry, terrified tears fell from her eyes onto the floor.

"_James…he killed your son…__**I WILL MURDER THAT**__…no, if you kill him more people will be killed, more blood will be shed__**, I WILL SHED HIS**__, take the noble route…don't become a demon like him…"_

Taking a deep, shaking breath, James stood to his full height.

"What are your demands again, General Omedea?" James asked as compliantly and calmly as he could.

"That you turn over all your forces and help us, idiot." Omedea grumbled, flicking his spent cigarette onto Lowell's corpse.

James washed the burnt cylinder land on his son's power armor.

He then heard a very dark and familiar voice echo quietly in his head.

"…_**Molerat…**__no…I can't…too much – __**Molerat **__– but…I cannot become the murder I once – __**Molerat…Molerat…**__Father, forgive me, an old demon calls me again…" _

"You have a mentat on you, Omedea?" James asked cautiously.

Unexpectedly, General Omedea started laughing.

"Hahaha, this is great! Like father, like daughter! Hahahaha…ah, sure, here." Omedea relented, tossing James a pill.

Without hesitation, James downed the drug and swallowed. He never cared for the rush, even when he was addicted to it. He used it only because it made thinking so much more easier. Tonight, he was going off on a theory. Mentats worked by supplementing extra chemicals in the brain, firing its nerves at a higher rate. He was hoping the same effect would go straight to his prosthetic which was not bound by muscle, only powered straight to his nervous system.

"So, decision, James?" Omedea demanded.

"…Molerat." James retorted.

"Huh?"

And quite suddenly there was a demon in the room.

James reached out and grabbed the nearest soldier. When the other soldiers fired at James they found that he had turned their captured comrade into a human shield. James' prosthetic, now fueled by the Mentat, acted much differently than it had ever done before. James reached with his right hand to retrieve his machete and decapitated the corpse while tossing the head at another soldier.

The two effectively knocked heads, knocking another out.

James used the soldier's unfired rifle to take out the other two remaining soldiers.

Switching his machete into his left hand, James flew towards Omedea and lashed out with his prosthetic. For a brief moment, James reflected that he'd never seen it move as fast as it was now.

The general found that his pistol and hand was now lying on the floor.

"You are no better than the vilest raider I ever put down! Your sin is pride to think that you could acquire whatever you wanted from others! To think of others simply as things and commodities to be discarded and used at your wish! Your sin is to repeat the sins of our fathers who brought the bombs on our heads!" James snarled as the machete stabbed deep into Omedea's midsection.

And, to James surprise, he laughed.

"James…what have you done? Now more people you love other than your son will die…and history will paint you as a monster…" Omedea chuckled in pain.

"…History was always written by the victors…" James growled.

"…And did you not admit that your Regulators would most likely lose?" Omedea reminded.

"…I may have an old demon…but you are the true abomination." James snarled.

The old demon may have regretted it but James' conscious would not allow the Hierarchy general to suffer any longer.

He made sure that his prosthetic was quick in dicing the man apart.

* * *

Carl has bashed most of the door in when they heard the metal bar slide off. The men were further horrified to Evelyn dragging Lowell's body behind her. Her progress was painfully slow because of the weight of the power armor that Lowell still wore. In front of her, James, covered in blood, dragged the only surviving soldier who he had knocked out in the scuffle. He shoved the man towards the north.

"Go back, tell them not to return to this place! They will find nothing!" James shouted.

The soldier, certain that he would never sleep well ever again, stumbled off towards the Hierarchy capital.

"James, where is Omedea?" Adam demanded.

"…Don't bother…" James said in torment, bending down and quite ridiculously trying to carry Lowell's corpse by himself.

Frowning, Carl stopped him and hefted Lowell's body himself.

"I got this…" Carl said sadly.

James was sitting on the ground, dumping his canteen of water on his coat in a forlorn attempt to wash the blood off of him.

"I've started a war…so many will die…because of me…I…I can't…I can't stop this…and I have to go home…what will I tell Julia?" James blathered, Evelyn now coming to his side to weep on his shoulder.

"James…" Adam said.

The medic looked up at him with bleary eyes.

"Take Evelyn and go with Carl back to the ship. Sven and I will take care of something quick here." Adam ordered.

James nodded, took Evelyn up in his arms, and stumbled mindlessly back to the boat, Carl in tow behind him.

Adam looked over at Sven and then motioned to the abandoned building.

"Torch it."


	31. Chapter 31

"_The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish."_

-Pope John Paul II

"_If you believe breaking is possible, believe fixing is possible."_

-Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

"_There are three things that signify the magnanimity of a person: good temper, patience, and to avoid aggressive gaze."_

-Imam Ja'far al Sadiq

* * *

Spike dogs tend to sleep in one of two ways. Either they will sit on their soft underbelly and fall asleep or roll over on their backs and doze off. Furious did not seem to have a preference for either. In this case, he was sleeping outside a hut, belly in the dirt when the toe of a boot gently tapped him in the side.

"Come on. We're leaving." Isaac whispered.

Furious did not have a preference for how he slept but he did indeed mind being woken up.

The spike dog let out a low, complaining growl but nonetheless got to his paws and drowsily followed after Isaac. Even the creature understood that they were leaving and they were not going under the best of circumstances.

It was night and only a sliver of the moon shone overhead. Meanwhile, four figures met in the center of the Oasis settlement, five if you counted the spiky mass waddling behind Isaac.

"Are we ready?" Isaac asked quietly, making sure there was no one around.

"Can't wait to skip this place." Suda muttered, already shouldering her combat shotgun.

"There will be two sentries posted at the gate. We need to find a way to get past them." Joseph remind them.

"Let me handle it." David volunteered.

He could not see their glares of skepticism but judging from the silence, he gathered that was exactly what they were doing.

"No offense, but I was certain you were going to get us killed the last time." Isaac said.

"Trust me, I got this." David assured, already walking forward to the gate before anyone could stop him.

And with that, the Spike Dogs began their escape.

The air was cool despite the desert nature of the Capital Wasteland. Occasionally, when they looked just right in the dim moonlight, they could see their breath form from their mouths and nostrils. They did their best to keep silent, including Furious treaded lightly on the ground.

"Hey, who goes there?" one of the sentries demanded, suddenly getting their attention.

It was the moment of truth. David wasted no time.

"Hey, shalom fellas." David greeted with over enthusiasm.

"What are you all doing here?" the other sentry asked, panic rising in his voice.

"Came to give you a gift." David replied.

Holding his crowbar at its center, David drove the metal rod forward as if punching straight in front of him. Both ends of the crowbar hit the two sentries straight in the face. The two branchminders fell back and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"G'night, fellas." David said.

"David, you weren't suppose to kill them!" Isaac hissed.

"They're not dead, just out like a light." David defended.

Sure enough, they could still see steam rising from the nostrils of the knocked out sentries.

"Enough chatter, start moving, go, now!" Joseph growled quietly, urging them forward as he held the gate door open.

Once the Spike Dogs had passed through winding pass that led up to Oasis, they picked up the pace. All of them felt like they were running foolishly blind but they all knew they had to put as much distance between them and Oasis before the morning light.

Panting, Isaac suddenly saw Joseph upping his stride.

"What's wrong?" Isaac demanded.

"I swear I heard a yell. They probably found out. We need to move faster." Joseph breathed.

The Spike Dogs urged their heels to move faster into the night.

* * *

A spark ignited in a now smoldering ruin of an ancient mining facility. For months a storm brewed drawing all the forces it could from every corner of the former state. Two nations vied for power from the west and north east. From the south two city states did their best to remain neutral but eventually their hand was forced. Like dominoes being stacked, the pressure mounted with each piece being placed behind the other. Ambition, deceit, principles and pride fueled the growing maelstrom and finally the main cards met at a now crumbling facility.

And then…a toppled domino, and important drawn card, a flying lit spark…

The situation exploded and now all of New York would be bathed in flames.

* * *

He could scarcely believe it. He had gone through four levels of heart pounding, hairs on end terror and all that waited for him at this last floor was a computer terminal? Not only did Delta Sierra find this most unexpected but a bit disappointing.

He belatedly realized that perhaps it would be the simple, cold data from this harmless looking terminal that would provide the most disturbing revelations of all.

Sneaking up to the terminal, he immediately surveyed the main screen. At first, all he could see was a very small directory. It seemed to consist of only one entry. He was about to go ballistic when he realized what was actually written on the directory.

_AI_

"What is the AI for?" Delta Sierra muttered to himself.

As if on cue, a hologram emerged from behind the terminal, revealing a flickering but luminescent image of a man in a business suit.

"Welcome visitor, how may I serve you?" the hologram greeted.

"I'm finally going to be getting some answers." Delta Sierra muttered, almost in relief.

"Yes, I will do all in my ability to answer whatever questions you may have regarding this facility." The AI offered.

"Who built this facility? How long has it been running?" Delta Sierra asked.

"This facility has been running since 2077 AD." The hologram reported.

_"Wonderful, exactly the same year the bombs fell."_

"This facility was built by the PandoraTech Company. It has been running along its primary directive without interruption to this date." The hologram explained.

"What is your directive?" Delta Sierra demanded.

"This facility has been tasked with developing a biologically superior organism." The computer replied.

"So those Super Mutants…they're your definition of a biologically superior human?" Delta Sierra inquired.

"The primary directive was to develop a biologically superior _organism_. The FEV experiments have been a leading sample but the tests have recently recreated a superior mutation that was detected in a FEV batch twenty years ago." The computer explained.

Delta Sierra was taken aback.

"What is the nature of this new organism?" the agent demanded.

"It is a creature that does not have a classification within the parameters loaded onto this mainframe. It is highly resistant to trauma, lacerations, infections, even nuclear radiation. Most promising is that it is able to utilize tissues from a dead organism and absorb it into itself. In theory, such an organism with those characteristics significantly decreases its chances of expiring. This has made it a biologically superior organism." The computer explained.

Something did not sit well about this information, it was currently eating a hole in his stomach as he wracked his mind for answers. Why did this "organism" as the computer describe it seem so familiar.

Wait!

Twenty years ago a large, indescribable creature, more like a mound of flesh, stumbled upon the Brotherhood ship. It was the same ship that the Enclave had assaulted and the creature's arrival effectively threw off their offensive. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. Most horrifying to ENCOM officers was the reports that no matter how much firepower they unloaded into the animal, nothing seemed to stop it. All of the fallen soldiers that were absorbed by the creature were never recovered.

Oddly enough, sightings of the same creature disappeared the very night they first spotted it. Conveniently, there were also reports of a massive explosion, a giant nuclear fireball ascending into the sky from an abandoned traffic square within the city ruins.

And then the Liberators were credited for it.

This facility has managed to _recreate_ that abomination?

"Where is this creature? Where was is it being stored?" Delta Sierra demanded, fighting a rising panic.

"The vial containing the virus samples that would produce such a creature was given to the FEV experiment self designated as 'Ghemaath.' Ghemaath is leading the FEV subjects west to be absorbed by the virus."

* * *

Julia solemnly carried a holodisc. Her eyes were bloodshot. Weariness weighed on her head. Everything inside of her felt empty. She could not even summon rage, not right now at least. James had done all he could to be with her but right now she needed some time alone. She was almost certain James was relieved for that. She knew that he often needed to process things like this by himself.

Albany was in mourning. The Regulators were gathering. Fear had descended upon the refugees that were still holed up outside the city. Everything seemed to have ground to a halt.

And her son had fallen in the line of duty.

At the docks, Julia handed the holodisc to a Brotherhood of Steel scout dressed in recon armor. The scout's face seemed somber and sympathetic to the woman's loss. Still, it was little consolation to her. She simply needed to wait until she accepted her loss.

Receiving the disc, the scout saluted her.

"My condolences, Scribe Vanderbraun. If it is of any consolation, he died well." The scout offered, hand still at his brow.

"…He died too young." Julia replied bitterly before turning around to leave.

On the disc was an entry for the Records.

_Paladin Lowell Vanderbraun_

_Decorated Brotherhood Paladin_

_Veteran of numerous battles and engagements_

_Leader of the Carbide Tempest squad_

_Fallen in Action _

_May his memory remain forever on the Records_

* * *

Warlord Yeohart was a man of paradoxes. He was well versed in pre-war history, political science, philosophy and economics. Still, he preferred the simple, almost Spartan lifestyle of a barbarian. Those that knew him well understood he could gentle, fair, almost compassionate. They also knew that he could be brutal when he felt that justice should be delivered. Warlord Yeohart was an educated and practical man. Still, he had a superstitious side to him. From his yurt one day when spied a massive dark storm cloud in the east with a firm and relentless wind that blew to the south-east, he could not help but feel it was an omen. Deep down, he felt it as an ill omen of evils to come.

And somewhere, he felt that it brought no good news to anyone in New York.

* * *

Hierarchy Command reeled and lashed. The highest general had been killed unexpectedly and brutally. His remains were never recovered, soldiers only found charred ash and a still burning ruin. A saboteur's explosion had rocked their main training ground and took out one of their best special forces leader. They had a hard time believing it was the work of the Western Coalition but were equally loathed to admit that it may have been an undercover Regulator. Had the olive green duster wearing vigilantes been smarter than they had given them credit for?

Worst of all, the Director, Catherine Omedea not only demanded answers, she demanded retaliation.

Their forces were already bogged down in the west dealing with Western Coalition raiders. It was not unfeasible to bring a small task force of reserves to strike at Albany but it would be very risky. They could withdraw their western front, hope the raiders were in no state to advance and insure their victory over Albany. Still, that was a risk they did not want to take.

And then, the late General Omedea's poison still active in their minds, someone suggested to use the tools that they had already been using all along.

Propaganda, twisted facts, deception.

* * *

The only member of the Vanderbraun family that anyone in Albany really saw anymore was James. Even that was not saying much. Julia and Evelyn, after Lowell's funeral, did not even go outside. James, when he was out, just kind of floated in the streets. He would probably arrive to grab some food from the tavern or to check on some business or the other with the other Regulators. Sometimes he just wandered. Still, he never wandered for very long.

He looked more like a ghost than a person, a lost phantom devoid of purpose rather than a human being.

Adam and Carl could not talk to him. They tried but James simply muttered to them that he did not want to talk. Once Sven found out that they had tried, he did not bother trying himself. If they could not get across to him then the pyromaniac concluded he had no chance. The other Regulators and the city's inhabitants respectfully considered him but otherwise kept their distance. Sure, the man was probably abusing himself in his own self guilt for no reason but it was apparent that he was stubbornly refusing to let anyone talk sense into him.

That came screeching to a halt when he bumped into the last person he expected to confront him.

"Francis, what are you doing here?" James blathered, knocked out of his trance.

"Are the rumors true, James?" Francis said abruptly.

"Which rumors?" James asked.

"That they killed your son and tortured your daughter?" Francis demanded.

"…Yes…and I killed him for it. I killed the Hierarchy's highest general, their leader's son. They will make us pay dearly for this. I'm sorry, Francis." James apologized.

"Hmmm…" Francis grunted.

"I should have tried to control myself but-"

"James, shut up. I'm not too fond of the idea of an army marching on our Regulators either. The odds are not in our favor but that does not mean it is impossible. Come on, you're a smart man. What would be our best response should the Hierarchy come marching down our doorsteps?" Francis coaxed, picking at James' brain.

"…They would follow the Hudon and the old Thruway that goes through the Hudson valley." James replied.

"Right, land we know like the back of our hands. Now, to test your knowledge of legends and pre-war history. When the old United States was fighting for its independence, do you know what one of the folk stories said on how they won that war?" Francis drilled.

"…Not sure, but I am going to guess they were out-numbered and out equipped so they would resort to hit and run tactics." James shrugged.

"Exactly. We'll do the same. We'll use classic guerilla tactics. That whole thruway is going to be trapped and rigged, there will be a Regulator sniper watching every step of their advance and they're going to find themselves sniped up, shot up and exhausted before they even enter the Albany outskirts. Now, I need you to pull yourself together. I know your son is dead and your daughter is hurting but if you want to do something good for them now, you and the other Liberators need to rally me an army." Francis charged.

* * *

They were a mess. Even Joseph was exhausted. All of the Spike Dogs felt like they had done more running in one night than they had done their entire lives. They were all panting heavily and all felt extremely dehydrated. Furious was too exhausted to even bark or otherwise misbehave.

"Now…why…did…we…come here?" Suda panted between breaths.

"Nicole…lives…in Megaton…she can probably…give us…advice." Isaac huffed before finally cramping up and doubling over.

"Stand…straight…" Joseph grunted, pushing Isaac back up.

"But it hurts!" Isaac whined.

"The quicker…we get to the bar…the better!" David panted, doing his best to clomp towards the place formerly known as Moriarty's Saloon. Now it was Gob's.

The Spike Dogs wearily collapsed into the saloon, each of them finding a stool to rest on. Even Furious seemed to be dragging himself along and this time the creature did not even try to hop onto the bar. He simply walked right up next to it and rolled up on his back, mouth ajar panting.

"Hey, fancy meeting you boys here. How did your mission go?" a familiar voice asked.

Isaac looked over to see Nicole waving at them.

"We…we got the seeds." Isaac panted.

"You did not cause too much trouble did you?" Nicole demanded, arms folded in front of her.

"No, ma'am." Isaac replied.

"You _do _remember what I said about being able to tell when someone was lying to me, right? For your sake, I really hope you aren't." Nicole warned, raising an eyebrow at him.

Isaac hated having her piercing gaze on him and so he finally decided to fess up."We had to bury their ammo but Harold will tell them where to find it…their bows fell apart but Joseph left a note telling them how to fix that…and two of them may be having the headache of their lives right now but they should all be okay." Isaac listed in a rush.

Nicole kept her glare up for a moment but then went behind the bar and handed a pile of caps to the ghoul was hanging around before getting each of them a tall glass of water.

Nicole watched as the Regulators gulped the water and said, "Well, I guess you did your best to keep your word. I take it they weren't too keen on the idea of you walking off with those seeds, huh?"

"Indeed." Joseph replied, slowly sipping his glass of water.

"Thank you, thank you, you'll pardon me if I don't keep thanking you as I down this thing." David told Nicole before tearing into the drink.

Suda had said nothing the whole time. Instead, her eyes fell onto another patron who was in the saloon. The reason she initially noticed the patron was because they were also wearing an olive green duster, the uniform of the Regulators. However, she found that she could no longer take her eyes away from the other Regulator.

The reason was because of a sword hanging from their hip in plain view.

Suda left her stool to go speak with the Regulator. Any other sword on a person could be easily ignored. Bladed weapons still found their uses in the wasteland, no matter which part of the country you came from. However, some swords were more different than others. This one that the Regulator was carrying was practically unique, rarely if ever seen in most places of the old U.S.

And Suda knew she had seen that sword once before.

"Excuse me, where did you get that sword?" Suda demanded.

For a moment, the saloon grew silent. The Regulator who Suda had confronted had their head down while a head wrapped masked their features. Even Nicole was unsure of what was about to go down. The Spike Dogs also held their breaths, wondering what Suda was getting herself into. Only Furious was blissfully unaware of what was going on, greedily lapping up water in a bowl that was placed before him.

"It's been in my family for generat-"

The Regulator never finished her sentence.

The reason both Suda and the other Regulator both fell silent was because they finally got a good look at each others' faces. Even the others quickly saw it. The tense silence suddenly became awkward, uncertain.

"Hey, are you two related?" David asked loudly.

The other Regulator, despite having her hair hidden in the head wrap, clearly looked like an older version of Suda. She seemed weathered, tired almost, and her countenance its fair share of wrinkles, even a scar or two on it. Still, only the most dense would overlook the fact that her face was only slightly different from Suda's.

"Suda…?" the Regulator asked with baited breath.

Suda's mouth dropped, either in horror or shock at the confirmation of what she suspected.

"Ah, mazel tov!" David congratulated.

"David, I'm not sure this is something she's going to want to celebrate…" Isaac cautioned.

"This keeps getting stranger and stranger…" Joseph muttered.

"Did what I think just happen really happen?" Nicole asked in hush tone to Isaac.

Isaac's response was interrupted with the saloon door bursting open.

And in arrived a Talon Company hit squad.

* * *

"A.I, access the override systems, I am going to authorize this facility to shut down." Delta Sierra ordered.

Through his transmitter, ENCOM had watched the whole ordeal in silence. Now, having seen everything, the head leadership had quickly decided that this vault needed to be put out of commission. Still, if they could do so without firing one of their satellite based weapons, that would be all the better.

"Warning, there is no shut down option for this facility. WARNING: threat detected to the primary objective and commands. Initiating safety protocols." The hologram warned before suddenly falling silent.

Overhead, Delta Sierra distinctly heard several muffled but distinct thuds. His initial thought was that the systems had released a super mutant or two from the pods. The security systems probably intended those abominations to destroy him and cast his body into the testing vats.

Until this theory was proven false, it was the premise he was going to work with.

"Can never be done the easy way, can it?" Delta Sierra growled as he fired up his stealth fields and dove through the closing door.

* * *

Before the Talon Company squad had ever burst through the door, they had already given away their presence. First, people were already suspicious of the long coats and clothing that they wore over their black armor to hide their true allegiance. Still, despite greedily tearing into his drink, Furious had still sensed them when they had stepped through the door. Of the many odors that the spike dog could pick up from them, he recognized one scent that was exactly the same as the last Talon Company squad they hit in the wasteland.

Furious had logged that particular scent under "danger/food."

Before the Talon men could even open the door, Furious had growled and was already dashing madly towards the door. The spike dog had slacked his thirst but he suddenly remembered he had not eaten in awhile. He found the men with this scent mighty generous to appear at so appropriate a time.

More importantly, Joseph was already alarmed at the way Furious had taken off towards the door.

So when the door finally did fly open, several things happened all at once.

Joseph, realizing he, Isaac and David were right in front of the door, roughly shoved Isaac to the side, knocking both Isaac and David immediately off from the Talon men's center. As Joseph fell off to the opposite side, he reached into his coat to fish out his tomahawk which he had ready just as soon as he hit the floor.

Furious meanwhile had jumped into the air and sunk his teeth into a Talon man's arm, coincidentally, it was the man who was suppose to make the first shot as they entered.

What transpired may have made everyone's hearts jump into their throats but it was all over in a matter of seconds.

The Talon's opening round, thrown off by the livid spike dog hanging on his arm, sunk deep into the floor of the saloon.

Joseph launched his tomahawk which immediately took out one of the flanking Talons.

Suda found herself pushed to the floor by the other Regulator. That accomplished, the woman drew out her scimitar and was immediately upon the remaining Talons, finishing them off before anyone could fully register what had happened.

"What was that all about?" Isaac blathered, trying to find his footing.

"Not completely sure myself but I figured if Furious did not like them, I probably should not either." Joseph admitted, also getting to his feet.

"They fired the first shot." The Regulator with the scimitar said sternly.

Nicole ignored all of them and immediately started digging through the pockets of the Talon men. She continued her work despite Furious growling at her, warning her to stay away from his breakfast. Within moments her face lit up and she pulled out a sheet of paper from the coats of the Talon men.

"Judging from your feisty little pet and the fact that you're wearing his quills, I'm pretty sure people have taken to calling you boys the 'Spike Dogs,' right?" Nicole asked, still scanning the paper in her hands.

"Yep." David replied.

"I can't say it brings back good memories but there's a reason I found this awfully familiar." Nicole admitted, handing Isaac the paper.

"Someone wants you dead and they hired Talon Company to do it." Nicole reported, summing up what she had read before Isaac could finish it.

"You think maybe one of the radicals of the Treeminders did it?" Joseph muttered.

"I can't imagine that they did it lightly…but we _did_ take something very important from them." Isaac replied.

"You boys said you were from New York, right?" Nicole asked, arms still folded in front of her.

"Yeah." Isaac nodded.

"I don't know what Talon Company is like up there, but I can tell you that right here they very persistent. Take it from me, I've dealt with them more times than I can count. You're best off leaving this area." Nicole warned.

"You're right, I think we've worn out our welcome. Thanks for everything, Nicole." Isaac said, shaking her hand.

"Don't mention it. Be safe out there and good luck, you boys will need it." Nicole replied.

"Ready, Suda?" David asked as they started stepping through the door, Joseph meanwhile tossing the bodies off the saloon balcony while ignoring a complaining Furious who still wanted more.

"Yeah, sure." Suda grumbled, dusting herself off.

"Wait, you said you were all going back to New York?" the other Regulator asked, having watched on the whole thing in silence.

"Yeah. It's a long a walk." Isaac replied.

"I'm coming with you. My name is Sufia. I probably still have friends there." Sufia explained.

"Uh, sure, fine. The more the merrier I guess." Isaac shrugged.

Suda glared at them but remained silent as they began to leave the Saloon.

Watching them leave, Nicole could not help but shake her head. She looked over and decided to help Gob as he worked to clean up the mess that their latest patrons had caused. After a moment of silence, Nicole finally asked what she had silently been musing on.

"Gob, was I just as rambunctious like that when I was younger? Coming and going with all that noise?" Nicole asked.

Gob just stared at Nicole for a minute with his rheumy eyes, somewhat stunned that she'd forgotten how troublesome she actually had been at times. Finally, Gob answered her with a single gruff, "Yep."

With a little snort and a shake of her head, Nicole smiled and remembered the good old bad days.

* * *

Warlord Yeohart stared down the pathway that led up to where he sat in his yurt. Runners had rushed up to him earlier and whispered urgently into his ear. His countenance immediately hardened and awaited for the runners' words to be fulfilled. A few moments later he spotted a whole platoon of his raiders marching stiffly in formation. They had good reason to be on edge.

They had surrounded three officers of the Hierarchy.

Yeohart's face was hard and without remorse. It kept its regal visage but also warned that he was very hostile.

"This is most unusual. First you fire upon us. Then you fired upon our emissaries. Then you persisted to rain your bullets on us. It is only _now,_ that you have finally decided to show your faces. If it was not for the fact that my men have told me that you specifically requested an audience, I would have assumed you were being brought here as prisoner." Yeohart said sternly.

"Warlord Yeohart, I am Lieutenant Macintyre of the Hierarchy-"

"Do not waste time on pretty words and formalities, soldier. My patience is a lot shorter than usual for your people." Yeohart warned.

"Very well. The point is this: the Hierarchy wishes to mend our relationship and request your immediate support in our campaign against the Regulator state, specifically their city states of Albany and New York." Macintyre explained.

Yeohart first stared at him and then started laughing scornfully.

"This is madness! Do you take orders from a warmongering dog? Have you decided that our lines hold too well so then you must focus on the Regulators? What quarrel do you have with them and why do you need us so badly?" Yeohart demanded.

"Warlord, we extend this offer to you because it is also a danger to you. You know Regulators do not take kindly to raiders-"

"A lot of people do not take kindly to raiders." Yeohart interrupted spitefully.

"But they have upped the cost. Our cities have been sabotaged by sophisticated cloak and dagger techniques? You do know what I mean when I say that, right? They have even gone to the point of assassinating some of our highest leaders. Their assassins must be well trained. They have threatened our future by killing the leaders of our next generation. This is a threat to both of us." Macintyre said, reciting words that had been rehearsed to him as well as explaining a few things he had seen with his own eyes. After all, his whole platoon of recruits went up in a fireball a few nights ago.

Yeohart said nothing, still staring at him with stern eyes.

"You have had Regulators here, right? Who is to say that there are not some disguised right now, waiting to strike you down when you are at your most vulnerable? Even worse, what if they are watching your children? Do not think that they would not be above that." Macintyre warned.

He saw Yeohart cast a sideway glance. It was only for a fraction of a second but Macintyre had caught it. He stifled a smile. Off to the side he could hear children playing. Yeohart might have been a warlord but he was also a father. Only the most heartless would not have any sense of affection for their children.

"…For your support, you may have everything west of the Hudson, so long as you do not transgress and go across the river to the east." Macintyre added.

"…Go back to your home. Send your generals to me. We will talk." Yeohart finally said.

* * *

_Author's Note__ Thanks again to Sunday for her hard work in editing these. _

_For the next two weeks I am in a limbo state between study crunch time and moving to another apartment. Ergo, my connection and internet activity will be spotty. Don't mind me if I am a little more shadowy than normal for the next couple weeks. Hopefully I will be back up to full functionality shortly. _


	32. Chapter 32

_You cannot stop the storm_

_You may only run_

_Or dig in_

_But never for once fool yourself into thinking you can stop it_

* * *

Delta Sierra stormed through the vault as fast as his heels could take him, praying that the stealth field would compensate for noise of his foot falls. Already two of the neo-centaurs had dashed in searching for him but his silenced Infiltrator had taken care of them. What worried him more, however, was that he was sure he had heard heavier thuds and bangs throughout the vault. There had to be super mutants about, he was certain of it.

"ENCOM, this is Delta Sierra, you have the location of this vault, over?" Sierra spoke rapidly into his transmitter.

"Affirmative, Delta Sierra." ENCOM replied.

"Prepare the Lucifer projectile, have it strike down on this location." Delta Sierra ordered.

"Agent, you are aware that the blast radius is over a mile. We can postpone the launch." ENCOM warned.

"How much time till the next time the satellite is over this position?" Delta Sierra demanded.

"Fifteen minutes, Delta Sierra."

"That's enough time, ENCOM. Dispatch Athena after the projectile drop, tell her to look for me." Delta Sierra replied.

"Your chances of surviving that blast are-"

"Good enough for me!"

* * *

Nuclear fallout takes years to go away. The damage is catastrophic, the recovery time is too long and the lingering effects in between is too heinous. Human fallout from the trauma of a devastating event is not much better. The location of a nuclear catastrophe can be avoided. The problem with emotional fallout is that no matter what you do, at least one person will suffer with it.

They have to suffer with it and overcome it. The inability to do so is not pretty to watch.

Julia worriedly kept this in mind as she watched her daughter, curled up in a fetal position in Evelyn's old room.

The scribe had seen her fair share of wounds ever since she started off as one of the doctors in the NYC Brotherhood group. By now, she had seen everything from bacterial and viral infection to missing limbs to radiation poisoning. All of these things she had seen in their most benign and most severe conditions. All the while both she and her husband understood that their practice into healing the body could only go so far. Fractured minds and emotional scars could be made whole again but they took time and honestly, there was only so much they could do.

And then there was their friend Sven who was the perfect example of someone who honestly believed his life was made that much more interesting by his unusual outlook on life.

Still, it broke Julia's heart to see Evelyn like this.

"Evelyn, you know can always talk to us about what happened…if that makes you feel any better." Julia said quietly, sitting at the edge of Evelyn's bed and placing a hand on her leg.

Evelyn only responded by curling into a tighter ball.

"Or you can continue to take your time, I just want you to know that your dad and I only want to help. You've been absolutely desolate these past few days and you've said nothing." Julia added.

She was almost certain she heard Evelyn whimper.

"We'll be right here, okay Evelyn?" Julia offered soothingly.

The two woman remain motionless for a couple minutes. At one point the only thing that could be heard was their breathing. Of course, there was a moment that the rat Whiskers shuffled through as if investigating something only he knew existed. Still, the rodent was only there for a moment before leaving.

"It was my fault…" Evelyn finally said.

Julia narrowed her eyes at her.

"Evelyn, you cannot blame this on yourself." Julia said in disbelief.

"But, mom…I wasn't…thinking straight. None of this would not have happened if I was in my right mind." Evelyn argued, tears running down her face.

"Evelyn, you cannot blame yourself for what these men did. You had no control over it." Julia replied.

"No…it's my fault." Evelyn sobbed.

"Evelyn, do not do this to yourself. You are my daughter and I will not let you torment yourself for something you did not do." Julia scolded.

"…Mom…I'm addicted to Med-X. That's why I was not in my right mind when they abducted me." Evelyn whimpered.

For a moment, Julia did not know whether to laugh, sigh or cry.

"Evelyn…you are definitely my child, the daughter of my husband. The addiction is not good…but that does not put the blame on you for what happened." Julia finally replied, almost relieved though she was not quite sure why.

"Why does everyone keep saying I'm related to dad because of that?" Evelyn finally asked.

"Haha…he was addicted to mentats back in the day." Julia said, shaking her head.

"…I never would have guessed." Evelyn admitted.

"That was long before you were born. I helped him kick the habit." Julia explained.

"Oh…" Evelyn sighed, still laying on the bed.

She made a small cry of shock when she felt a sharp sting on her thigh.

"And I'm going to help you kick your habit." Julia said sternly, emptying the contents of a detox syringe into her daughter.

* * *

The first part of their journey was spent in a kind of rapid walk, almost trotting away from the DC area. However, after the protest of their fatigue became too much to ignore, despite the obvious fear of knowing they were a singled out target of the Talon Company mercs, they slowed their pace. Unfortunately, even if the more extroverted personalities of the group wanted to say something an icy, uncomfortable silence refused to budge.

It probably had something to do with Suda and this woman calling herself Sufia.

"What are your names?" Sufia suddenly asked.

Everyone looked at her, a bit surprised she had said anything as no words had been traded by any of them thus far.

"Look, I know it was a bit forward of me to just jump with you guys but I am in no way going to get back to New York by myself. You guys were probably my last chance." Sufia explained.

"David Ben Levi." David announced.

"Joseph Horn." Joseph muttered.

"Isaac." Isaac replied. He had learned from habit to leave his last name out just in case anyone knew it.

Suda narrowed an eye at her.

"What?" Isaac asked.

"…Nothing." Suda muttered, shaking her head as if dismissing a stray thought.

"And you know that I am Suda." Suda grumbled, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Yes. I…I'm your mother, Suda." Sufia said furtively.

"No, no you're not." Suda asserted, eye set in anger.

"I…Suda…" Sufia sputtered in shocked hurt.

"You may have brought me into this world but I had to fight my way through it. You were never there for me when I needed you most. No. You are not my mother." Suda muttered darkly before stomping past all of them.

"Are we going or what?" Suda demanded angrily, now a couple paces ahead of them.

The others shrugged and caught up with her, leaving Sufia knocked off her feet emotionally. Still, after a second the older woman pulled herself together and marched up to catch up with the others. She told herself that in some ways her estranged daughter was right but darn it she was going to win that girl back.

Still, it hurt.

* * *

In the Albany armory where the Excelsior rifles were produced, weapons and ammo were being pounded out at an alarming rate. The plows were being converted into swords, the sheers into spears. Regulators had shed their dusters and worked alongside the paid workers, volunteering with no pay in hopes that they could prepare for the coming storm. So great was the fervor that now the production was progressing in halting spurts, the supplies of raw material had dwindled to practically nothing.

Outside, Regulators and volunteers trains constantly. It all brought back the bad memories of the short hours just before the costly assault on Liberty Island. A caustic feeling of foreboding and frustration had settled on the Liberators and the veterans who remembered the battle. Volunteers surged forward to defend their homes and loved ones.

They had no clue what battle looked like.

"We can pound out all the rifles we want. It takes weeks,_ months_ to get men to properly aim and use them effectively under all conditions. It takes years to properly train them for all kinds of fighting. There is no training in the world that can prepare for war." James grumbled darkly at the Albany square, Francis, Adam, Sven and Carl with him.

"There are not enough of the Regulators to teach the volunteers on how to use the terrain and cover to their advantage…probably enough to inspire them, but inspiration only goes so far." Carl nodded in begrudging gloom.

"We could nuke them." Sven shrugged.

"If only, Sven…" Adam sighed.

"Gentlemen, I think we've overlooked the possibility that the Hierarchy may, on the off chance, do nothing." Francis suddenly suggested.

The Liberators all turned in unison and stared at him in either shock or pity.

"Last I checked they were embroiled in a war with the Western Coalition. They may very well not have the resources to send forces our way." Francis explained.

"I guess…but I don't want to get my hopes up." James sighed.

"We could set fire to all the car wreck along the interstate…blow them up as they come marching down." Sven added, still lost in his own world.

"Regardless, keep training the men but for the love of God, don't demoralize them before the enemy even gets here, if they ever do." Francis scolded his Liberators.

"Hey, you know what would be really cool? Mini-nukes rigged up the car wrecks. Twice the explosion!" Sven suggested happily.

"…God bless you, Sven." Francis muttered.

* * *

Delta Sierra had scrambled through the fourth floor and was making his way through the third. His footsteps had driven the Centaurs in the room into a frenzy but somehow he had managed to elude them. Those that got close he had severely wounded with his devastatingly sharp blade. Between the blood, flailing bodies and gnashing teeth, he had managed to sow enough chaos to buy himself a passage to the next floor.

The door opening, he found that were several Super Mutants lumbering around.

"You have thirteen minutes till the Lucifer projectile drop, Agent." ENCOM warned into his receiver.

"Thanks…" Delta Sierra muttered disdainfully.

* * *

Knight Birns, Knight Felson and Initiate Hardings waited in the ruined skyscraper that they had holed up in, watching the eastern approaches leading up to New York City. The past few days had been hard on all of them. They were worried about Knight Captain Evelyn. They were worried on how Paladin Lowell was going about getting their Knight Captain back. They felt their pride was wounded that the other elite team, the Iron Storm troopers, were essentially grouped with them. Sure, they understood that circumstances merited this configuration and none of them forgot that their loyalty was first to the Brotherhood. They were all in the same boat together.

Still, there had always been a kind of rivalry with the Iron Storm troopers ever since the Carbide Tempest was formed.

"Urgh…what are we doing here?" Initiate Hardings complained, slamming a magazine into the chamber of his assault rifle. The others had watched him in growing irritation as he had repeatedly cleaned, re-cleaned and disassembled and reassembled the weapon.

"We are watching the city for any signs of that Super Mutant army the Enclave caught sight of. Do not forget that." Paladin Rufus of the Iron Storm group reminded them.

"Don't you think we could be of use somewhere else?" Hardings growled.

"Initiate…don't start." Birns warned, still keeping his eye through his scope, watching the outlying scenery.

"You have your orders, Initiate. We need every man here. That is on the command of the Elder." Rufus asserted. He had grown tired of the restlessness of the Carbide Tempest knights. Deep down he understood why they were so antsy. All of them were. Still, he needed discipline at this crucial time.

"So we're just out right believing everything the Enclave says now?" Felson demanded, setting his Tesla cannon on the floor.

"This is not up for argument, Knight Felson." Rufus shot back.

"All of you, shut up." Birns hissed.

"Excuse me, Knight Birns?" Rufus growled, turning on the prone knight.

"With all due respect, Paladin, please tell me I am in fact hallucinating this." Birns replied, shifting aside and motioning to Rufus to look through the scope of his Excelsior rifle.

Rufus got down on the floor and placed an eye behind the scope, squinting as he tried to process what Birns had seen. At first he wanted to ask the Knight what exactly he was looking at. However, before the words left his lips he suddenly understood exactly what he was looking at.

They had come. The Super Mutant army had arrived.

"Knight Fernando, get on the radio. Let the brothers and Enclave know that New Human Effort have arrived. Move!" Rufus ordered.

* * *

That evening, having finally decided rest, Isaac, David, Suda, Joseph and Sufia sat around a makeshift fire. Joseph had done his work in making sure the fire remained as inconspicuous as possible, keeping it small while allowing it to grow to provide some warmth.

"So you were originally from New York?" Joseph asked curiously.

"Yes, over twenty years ago. I worked with Francis for a time, probably the first ship bound Regulator." Sufia replied, cautiously shifting over to avoid Furious as he sat down into the dust.

"That's a high claim." David answered simply.

"You're skeptical. I understand. How does a New York Regulator get caught out in the Capital wasteland?" Sufia replied with a knowing smile.

"Yes. How does she?" Suda asked quietly, venom scarcely hiding under the surface.

"Suda, please do not be mad with me. There was nothing I could do!" Sufia pleaded.

"So I take it we're all very certain that you are in fact Suda's long lost mother." Isaac admitted, deciding to put it out in the open.

"Suda, what is the last that you remember?" Sufia asked, leaning forward as if to speak directly to her.

"There was a storm, the ship went down and I was washed ashore. There were no survivors. Well, apparently I thought there were no survivors." Suda answered with strained patience.

"Yes, Suda. There was a storm when we were traveling along the coast. It was ill advised but the merchants wanted to take the risk. They wanted to establish a trading venture. The storm caught everyone off guard. The ship went down and I was drifting off in the sea. I was certain I was dead until I was able to catch some debris floating in the water that had fallen from the ship." Sufia explained.

"Why didn't you look for me?" Suda demanded, water forming at the edge of her eyes.

"Suda, I did look for you. I was adrift on the makeshift raft for two days. The sun was beating down on me and if you can barely drink irradiated fresh water, then you really should not drink irradiated salt water. When I finally washed up on shore, I was dehydrated, weak, almost dead. The people at a nearby village found me. I have no idea where it was on the Atlantic coast, only that it was between New York and the Capital wasteland. The villagers told me they had seen no evidence of a wreck, no other people had been seen. I thought I had lost you." Sufia admitted, sadness hanging on her voice.

"…So what have you been doing all this time?" Suda asked.

"Someone in the village had gathered a large ship, piled it up with supplies. Some people thought he was mad but he said he wanted to cross the ocean. He had seen maps of lands that said would exist across the ocean. I had no one there for me, I was alone. I remembered because of my Muslim beliefs that I should complete the Hajj, the trip to Mecca which is in a land far away on the other side of the ocean. I signed up." Sufia admitted.

"Did you really cross that ocean?" Isaac asked, scarcely believing that such a thing could be done.

"The journey was hard. Many of the people on the ship died. But we made it. We made it to the place that was once called the Holy Land." Sufia smiled.

"Did you complete your journey? What did you find there?" David asked, suddenly interested.

"There were few people there. They were friendly and not much different from us. I sought out anyone who would know about Mecca. While I was searching, I stumbled upon three men. They never told me their names, only that one of them was a priest, the other a rabbi and the last an imam. I asked them about Mecca. They told me that all of the holy sites of the old world were destroyed in the Great War." Sufia replied.

"All of them?" David asked.

"Mecca, Medina, the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Nativity, the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem…all of it reduced to rubble. They told me that it was just as fitting…true faith does not rest in things to be scrabbled over, fought over like tokens to be held tightly." Sufia said, pausing before making one final narrative to her story.

"Still, I arranged for a caravan to take me to Mecca. I saw where the holy site once was…an empty crater in the ground, just like all of the other places. I returned back to the shore where the original ship captain was planning his return voyage. More were lost on the way back. We veered off course. When we landed we were only a short distance away from DC. I traveled there…and here I am now."

* * *

Anthony was ragged. His body was covered in dust. His clothes were torn and filthy. His stomach growled, his throat burned with thirst. The Hudson may have lost some of its radiation but darn it he refused to drink it if he did not have any Rad-X. He had not found any ships trying to go south along the Hudson. This astonished him. How and why did all of the shipping traffic suddenly stop? Why were all the settlements abandoned? His long trek turned out to be longer than he had ever expected.

When he arrived at Albany, or rather on the opposite side of the river at Albany, he was even more shocked to find a kind of armada guarding the entrance from a small hodge podge fleet of refugees. What had happened in his absence?

"Help!" Anthony yelled, feeling his strength leave him.

He told himself to keep it together. He had to warn the Liberators that the Hierarchy had captured someone of importance. He hoped he was not too late. He was very anxious as he saw a Regulator patrol boat suddenly hurrying over to his position.

His knees gave out from under him when the Regulators unloaded on the shore. He had passed out flat on the ground before they even got to him.


	33. Chapter 33

"_War will never dictate who was right and who was wrong. _

_It will only decide who are dead_

_And who will forever wish they were."_

* * *

"No, I don't need medication, I don't need food or water, er…actually, could you hand me a piece of that brahmin jerky and water? Thanks. Look, I need to talk to the Liberators!" Anthony protested hoarsely as Juan, Gerald and Otto dragged him to the tavern to recuperate.

"That can wait, buddy. You need to get better first." Gerald told him, wanting to hide the fact that all of the Liberators were in a rather gloomy mood.

"But I found what Adam wanted me to find!" Anthony argued between mouthfuls of water.

"Shut up and get better." Otto snapped.

"They captured a hostage!" Anthony shouted.

His friends immediately became very quiet.

"Anthony, are you talking about Evelyn?" Juan hissed, not wanting others to hear.

Anthony stared at him with bewildered eyes, hoping this was in fact a nightmare.

"Oh…shoot! Please tell me I am not talking about Evelyn." Anthony sputtered.

"Sorry, buddy. That's old news. The old Liberators got her back, though." Otto explained softly.

"Oh…oh, thank God." Anthony panted.

Gerald, Otto and Juan shared an uncomfortable glance.

"Um…dude, they lost Lowell in the rescue mission." Gerald whispered.

"Wait, what?" Anthony asked, looked back up at them in horror.

"You can probably give your report to Adam…but I'd stay clear James. Regardless, the old man is here in Albany." Otto announced.

"You mean Francis?" Anthony asked for clarification.

"Yep, Francis. The one thing you need to know buddy is that we're preparing for war. We're certain the Hierarchy is going to clamp down on us." Juan said, lighting up a cigarette when he finished.

"But they're the ones that started it, capturing Evelyn and all." Anthony grumbled as he sat down on a stool.

"Yeah…James kinda killed their commanding general in the process." Gerald shrugged sheepishly.

"Ah, good for him. Wait, shoot, you think Hierarchy is going to launch an attack? But they're actual soldiers and we're just Regulators. We're not really ready for that." Anthony said in growing panic.

"Dude, for a guy that was supposed to be gathering intelligence you're really behind the news here." Otto grumbled.

* * *

Delta Sierra realized, which each step he took, that the Super Mutants were closing in around him. Soon they would spot the slightly distorted image in the light that his stealth fields created. There were about four of the Super Mutants in the room, each of them towering well over his head and he was certain each of them could snap him in half with ease.

"You will be found, human. You will be killed. You are weak." One of the mutants taunted.

_"Well, time to prove him wrong." _Delta Sierra thought with a shrug.

He silently grasped his Infiltrator rifle, easily aimed it into the face of one of the Super Mutants and proceeded to empty the clip.

The mutant's head exploded and was chewed away by the flurry of bullets, creating a bloody shower.

The other mutants charged into the agent's supposed position.

"You are obsolete!" the taunting mutant continued.

Delta Sierra's eyes went wide when one mutant stormed up to him and raised both of its giant fists into the air, threatening to pummel the agent.

The Enclave operative rolled out of the way just as the mutant's clenched hands slammed down on the floor. Delta Sierra whipped out of his knife and almost nonchalantly stuck it into the mutant's neck, quickly pulling it out as a torrent of red started to gush out.

Delta Sierra's confidence and heart sunk when he noticed the blood gush onto his leg. The red fluid lashed onto the material and interfered with the light bending properties of the field created by his suit. At once, the two remaining mutants could see a dark red splotch seemingly suspended in mid air.

"You die now!" the same mutant that had been speaking the whole time roared.

Delta Sierra stood up and fired his Infiltrator with one hand as if it were a submachine gun. The gun sprayed at one of the mutants, tearing at its face but the mutant didn't stop until a couple rounds finally tore out its neck.

The last mutant, the one that had been insulting him, tore at Delta Sierra, trying to grasp him.

"You will die! You are obsolete! We are the future!" the mutant howled.

"No, you are not the future. You are the past." Delta Sierra retorted, stepping to the side before latching onto the mutant's back.

The mutant roared, bucking like a mad beast, trying to get Delta Sierra off.

"You are a project of destruction, a weapon of war, like every other tool of chaos created before by man! You are not the future, just merely a throw back of the past!" Delta Sierra said, finally driving the blade into the back of the mutants neck.

The agent had already jumped off the mortally wounded creature, making a mad sprint towards the entrance of the vault.

"Delta Sierra, you have nine minutes until the projectile drops." ENCOM informed him.

"Understood." The agent replied, tossing a grenade at the door control mechanism as he scrambled out of the door threshold, hitting the closing mechanism on the outside terminal as he did.

He heard the grenade inside the vault go off, destroying the inside terminal, making sure that nothing from inside would be able to go out.

Ever.

And now he had to sprint for his life.

Just another day at work for him. And for some reason, Delta Sierra couldn't help but laugh at this thought.

* * *

In the center of Albany, the Regulator squads that had arrived were lining up, gathering as a crowd. Those that had been helping the workers at the rifle plant had gathered their dusters and wore them. The Liberators and Francis had called for a meeting. The Regulators present imagined that they were going to be updated on what the strategy would be. A few of them indulged the over optimistic thought that the Hierarchy would never come but all knew that was folly.

All of them were grimed face. As if expecting the clouds of war to creep upon them at any moment, all of them already had their gear ready, their weapons prepared for a moment's notice. Armor in place, each person was prepared to fight what they believed to be another force of lawlessness.

Up in the front rows, the Boys breathlessly gathered into place. Anthony was feeling guilty that he had not arrived in time. He had wanted to apologize to all of them before the meeting. However, he noticed that the four Liberators all acknowledged him with a nod, no malcontent written on their faces. He was relieved, understanding that they did not hold this as a failure on his part.

Coming to the center of the four legends, Francis gathered his tired body to stand upright and address the crowd. He understood he was on the wrong side of eighty years. Many people did not get to live half of his age. He knew his strength was failing him but now he forced himself to gather the easily depleted reserves he had to do this important task.

He was known for being amazing abrupt with his words.

"I'm not going to lie to you. We got a massive problem." Francis started.

His Regulators remained stern faced, listening with gravity and apprehension.

"Very soon an army of trained and battle hardened Hierarchy soldiers may begin marching south towards Albany. We do not know how many of them are there. We do know our numbers. All of you here were the ones that could answer the call. New York City is practically drained of squads; few are left there to keep the peace. Still, we have no choice. Until Albany is safe, we will prepare. Your duty is to bring peace to New York, regardless of enemy. We are used to fighting raiders and Super Mutants. You have learned how to fight against them and hold the line. Now you will hold the line against these Hierarchy soldiers and show them that Regulators don't give in easily." Francis said, fighting the feeling of his strength failing him. Tired, he sighed and sat back down, waving a hand dismissively to let the men get back to work.

He felt a pang of relief when he noticed two of the vault Regulators marching quickly towards them. They were escorting two wild looking men. Francis noticed that the Liberators were watching the two other men with questioning squints. The ones being escorted wore leather armor as well as pieces of exoskeleton from a Rad scorpion. Finally, they were carrying bows. Francis immediately recognize them as hunters from the Nation's people.

"These men said they had an urgent message for the man in charge." The vault Regulators announced through their breathing masks.

"Go ahead." Francis nodded.

"Our people, the Nation, is headed this way to Albany. We will set up camp on the west side of the city." The hunters replied.

"What for?" James asked curiously.

"I'm not sure our city can support that many more people, not with what resources we have currently already strained." Carl muttered nervously.

"We are removing ourselves from the threat of the Western Coalition." The hunters explained.

"What?" Adam demanded.

"Several days ago our sentries warned us that their armies were on the move. This was no raiding or scouting party. This was the whole army of the Western Coalition." The hunters replied.

"Are you sure?" James inquired.

"There is no other possible explanation. Any other doubt can be cleared by this. It is a message given to us by a Western Coalition runner." One of the hunters handed James a parcel. James held it so that himself, Sven, Carl, Adam and Francis could read it.

_By order of Warlord Yeohart:_

_All inhabitants of the towns south of the Mohawk stretching to Albany are forfeit. The raider army marches for the Regulator city of Albany. Those who wish to keep their lives are urged to evacuate, take only what you can carry with swiftness. We do not wish to cause unnecessary deaths, our quarrel is with the city of Albany. Still, we are not unwilling to fight any who would stand in the way. _

_To the Liberators and Regulator squads of Albany:_

_With respect but gravity, I look forward to seeing you on the field of battle._

_I do not want to believe what I have heard from the Hierarchy dogs._

_Still, even raiders have honor, and I must think of my own family and safety, no?_

_I may be willing to listen to reason, but I doubt the Hierarchy will. _

_For that, I believe we will have no choice but to cross swords._

_Yeohart_

"Well, crap. That was not anticipated." Francis grumbled.

* * *

Suda had taken to marching in the front of the group, trying to put at much distance between herself and her recently found biological mother. The other Regulators in the group could feel the frozen chill coming from her end and the heartache coming from Sufia's side. Caught in between, there was little they felt they could do. Regardless, they had no choice but to press on. Every now and then Joseph's gut feeling would go off and they were back to sneaking around. Distant fires at night fed into their imagination that they were still hunted by packs of Talon Company.

The two women could figure out where they stood as a family when they weren't being hunted.

Isaac realized he was suddenly very homesick. Sure, he had been gone from home longer when he served in the Brotherhood but never had he felt so far away. He started to feel bad for Suda who never had a place to call home. Watching him from the back of the group, he started to wonder what it was like for her.

"Be careful" Sufia's quiet voice scattered his thoughts.

"Hm?" Isaac asked.

"Maybe she has a point that I am not her mother. Still, I brought her into this world, so I still have some responsibility for her. I see how you are around her. I don't know what you feel about her, but tread carefully. I'm not sure I trust you yet." Sufia warned.

"What? Wait, whoa, hold it. Sufia and I are just friends." Isaac sputtered in panic.

"Good. Keep it that way." Sufia replied and continued walking on.

Isaac stared at her in shock, letting her pass him. Metaphorically knocked off his feet, Isaac managed to compose himself before stomping on.

"Geez." Isaac grumbled under his breath.

Up ahead, David plodded along behind Furious and Joseph. Joseph was remaining ever vigilant, something David was counting on because he was getting tired. Joseph no longer let his bow rest across his body but always carried it around. His eyes scanned every rock, every patch of ground that led up to the horizon in front of him. At this point, he was more than concerned for all of them.

His eyes darted down when he heard Furious let out a low growl.

Danger…there was danger…but where was it?

It was only then that he felt the back of his neck cool from the breeze suddenly caressing it.

The wind had suddenly shifted. They were behind them.

"Get down!" Joseph shouted in panic.

The echoing sounds of a distant gunshot hit their ears.

Everyone else had ducked to a crouch. Isaac had already crumpled to the ground.

* * *

Enclave and Brotherhood power squad units had been mobilized. All across the New York City streets the sound heavy foot falls of power armor echoed in legion. Ever since the first sighting of the New Human Effort army, both the Brotherhood and ENCOM had been rapidly marshalling to develop a strategy. In the meantime, all units were being called up to the front. Of all the power armor soldiers, between two to four squads of New York Regulators were among them, the paltry token force that Mark had managed to leave to help in the defense of the city.

Current orders: hurry up and wait.

The highest authorities at ENCOM understood that a virus of some sort was being carried by the Super Mutant Gheemath. Unfortunately, there was no confirmation that this was in fact the army that Delta Sierra's information had referenced to. Furthermore, even if it was, they were still unsure of exactly how to proceed. This also tied up the Brotherhood of Steel which was still in the begrudging position of getting all of their intelligence from ENCOM.

So, until the mutants made the first move, the troopers would be forced to take up defensive positions and wait.

"What are they doing?" Hardings asked Birns furtively, the sniper's eye pressed to his scope.

"They've stopped…now they're…heading south." Birns muttered back distractedly, flip flopping between the competing desires of simply keeping the mutants under surveillance as his orders demanded of him or sniping Gheemath the first chance he saw him. That latter desire was very much contrary to his standing orders but he thought present circumstances called for a little flexibility.

"South? Are you sure, Knight Birns?" Paladin Rufus asked, peering hard at the cloud of dust that signaled where the mutant army was.

"Yes, Paladin. I am certain." Birns replied, his rifle slowly but steadily moving towards the south, following the mutant army.

"Come again, Paladin Rufus? Is there confirmation that they are heading south?" the Brotherhood of Steel base asked through the transmitter in the Paladin's helmet.

"Affirmative, base. They are heading south."

The soldiers were almost certain they could hear the ceaseless, hurried buzz of all the higher ups trying to decide what the implications were for this new information.

"What the heck is south of here?" Hardings asked.

"Just the shore." Birns shrugged.

"What, they're going to take a swim?" Felson asked, taking a quick glance at his Tesla cannon. If they were heading for the water, his electric beam gun would suddenly become that much more useful.

"Just shut up and let the intelligence people figure that one out." Birns muttered back.

Paladin Rufus, overhearing that remarked, was not sure whether to be insulted or to nod in agreement.

* * *

Athena gunned the engines of her vertibird as hard as they would go. Onboard her computer, ENCOM was running a feed that displayed the impact time to Lucifer projectile. They had two minutes. She gritted her teeth. She had been Delta Sierra's pilot for over two decades. She had never lost an agent under her command and it was one of the reasons she was considered one of the best pilots in the fleet. Despite being in her forties, she was still just as good if not better than her younger comrades.

And now she was really starting to wonder about why she felt so strongly about the agent. Sure, there was the obvious fact that they had worked together for so long. He did not say much, sometimes he could not say anything about whatever his missions. Still, occasionally they would exchange small talk. So yes, he was a valued comrade in arms.

And there was that one night when they both probably were not thinking straight…

But darn it, she was not going to lose an agent now, even if it might have been out of her control.

"Delta Sierra, this is Athena, where are you?" Athena demanded through the radio.

Silence.

Come on, he still had to be out there, the projectile had not struck. He could not possible be dead.

"Delta Sierra, please respond." Athena repeated.

Still no response.

"Delta!" Athena shouted.

And then she saw a brilliant fire burst in the sky. It all happened too quick but if someone were to slow it down, they would have seen a burning hole ripple from a single point in the sky. The Lucifer projectile, a brilliant white pillar in the sky, tore through the atmosphere and like a bolt of lightning, it struck the earth in a flash of a moment.

The after effects hit a moment later.

Athena watched in horror as it seemed that the ground suddenly became water, rippling, collapsing and heaving as if it were the surface of the ocean. Her aircraft suddenly rattled as the shockwave slammed into the machine. However, the airburst was not as bad as the ground. She could only gap as she fought the controls at the way the ground tossed rocks and boulders as if they were small pebbles.

And then it was all suddenly still, just the tremendous dust cloud billowing over the landscape.

"Delta!" Athena shouted into her radio.

More dust, she couldn't see the ground anymore. More radio silence.

"Delta Sierra, respond!" Athena screeched, her head darting wildly, praying to find something.

"Athena, are you picking up anything on your controls?" ENCOM intruded.  
"Negative, we have no signs of Agent Delta Sierra." Athena snapped, fighting panic.

"Athena, this is Delta Sierra, please land your aircraft. I am right below you." Delta Sierra suddenly spoke.

Sure enough, standing erect as if nothing had happened, Delta Sierra could be seen. He was covered in dust but his stance tried to declare that it was all irrelevant. In other circumstances it would have probably been ludicrous but Delta Sierra's next order dispelled any sense of relief.

"Hurry, Athena. We need to rush back and warn the Brotherhood and New York forces. A demon from the past has returned."


	34. Chapter 34

"_There's no such thing as a winnable war_

_It's a lie we don't believe anymore."_

_-_Sting "_Russians"_

War had come to Albany.

Sarah watched it and as much as she wanted to hide in her experiments, she could not turn her head from the signs of war. The Regulators were dividing into squads, more experienced residents and wastelanders brought into different backup groups. The nomadic people of the Nation had arrived days before and set up camp on the west side of Albany. Their hunters were also organizing.

Lab 18 overhead flights had confirmed it. The Western Coalition and Hierarchy forces were marching south on the road to Albany.

It was all very frightening for Sarah. Her whole life, despite being seventeen short years, was spent inside a vault. There had been no violence, unless you counted the petty bullying that occurred among the school children. Violence and death were so common place that childish scuffles and bloody noses would barely faze anyone outside the vault. And now, in a world already well acquainted with destruction, war was going to occur.

How brutal would they be?

And still, there was more grim news. While the Regulators prepared for an inevitable onslaught, a Brotherhood of Steel scout arrived on a fast riverboat that morning. He bore a message for Julia's daughter, Evelyn, who had only just recently taken to stepping out into the streets. The Brotherhood of Steel in New York City had just spotted an army of Super Mutants and they had asked for her immediate return and aide.

Evelyn, to Julia's great worry, had agreed.

Just one moment Evelyn was brooding, quite like her father. The next second they were listening to the news of the Brotherhood scout.

And now she was chasing after her daughter who suddenly seemed to have found a new fire.

"Evelyn, are you sure you're ready for this?" Julia asked breathlessly as she hurried alongside her determine daughter. Just one moment Evelyn was brooding, quite like her father, in their home. The next second they were listening to the news of the Brotherhood scout.

And now she was chasing after her daughter who suddenly seemed to have found a new fire.

"Mom, you know they are our brother and sisters. My squadmates have gone too long without us and now Lowell will never be coming back with us. I need to help them. They are in danger." Evelyn replied, apologetic, but firm.

By now, James was trotting up to them. Out of instinct Julia had told Whiskers to fetch James just as she used to do with Rat. In hindsight she wondered how Whiskers would have understood that order but it did not matter now, as Whiskers scampered away. After a few moments, James was coming to join them, following Whiskers.

"Evelyn…are you sure?" Julia asked one last time.

"I'm sure, Mother." Evelyn nodded.

"You're leaving?" James asked in shock, having missed out on the previous events.

"Brotherhood forces are about to clash with a Super Mutant army. They'll need my help." Evelyn reported, already encased in her old armor that the Brotherhood had sent up. She still had not attached her helmet however.

James and Julia both fought heavily their fears as well as their beliefs.

"Do not do anything stupid, Evelyn. We already lost your brother. Do not toss your life away needlessly." James said sternly.

"Dad, I need to-"

"And with that said, if you are able, do what you believe is right." James added.

Julia said nothing, but the melancholy smile on her lips signaled her approval.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad." Evelyn whispered, coming up to hug them both. She felt her mother dropping something in her bag.

"You'll have to finish the last two detox compounds to complete the therapy. Not another Med-X until you finish. Do not make me hunt you down, Evelyn." Julia whispered discreetly in her ear as a warning.

The two parents watched as Evelyn left them and made her way to the docks. The sun was rising on the horizon. The orange star promised that blood would be shed that day, just as the daughter was going to fight alongside her comrades, James would be going out to lead raiding squads that day.

"She takes after you." James said to Julia in a quiet jib.

"She's definitely your daughter, don't tack it all on me." Julia bantered back.

James chuckled as he removed the Excelsior rifle from his back and held onto it loosely.

"Did we do a good job raising them?" Julia asked quietly.

"I think we did. It's one of the few things I don't worry about." James smiled.

"Thank God." Julia giggled, squeezing her shoulder.

* * *

Sufia glanced behind her as David flipped on his back and fired blindly into the landscape, towards the general direction they assumed the gunshots came from. While Furious curled up into an angry ball of spines to wait out the danger, Sufia crawled towards Isaac's direction. Just before she had hit the dust she noticed that he had crumpled rather than fell to the ground. That was not a good sign.

"Isaac, Isaac! Are you there?" Sufia hissed urgently over the gunfire.

Isaac groaned and tried to move around a bit.

"My…back!" Isaac bit out.

Sufia noticed a jagged hole in Isaac's duster but there was a distinct absence of a red ring around it.

"Are you wearing armor, Isaac?" Sufia asked, taking a quick glance up to see if she could spot their attackers. She could only see muzzle flashes but nothing too distinct.

"Yes, I don't think it penetrated my body but it hurts like none other." Isaac growled through clench teeth, eyes clamped shut.

"Did the bullet land on your spine?" Sufia asked, reaching into her worn duster.

"Sure feels like it." Isaac groaned, struggling to get himself together.

"You're wearing an old combat armor under your coat, yes?" Sufia inquired, pulling a syringe from her coat now.

"Uh huh…" Isaac answered weakly.

"The bullet shattered the ceramic plating. The padding kept jagged shards from puncturing your body along with the bullet but you still felt the ballistic impact. Your spine is sensitive so that does not help. This will help the pain but I need you to get back and give us long range support. Get up, Isaac." Sufia ordered, having already slammed the syringe of Med-X into his thigh.

"Ugh…" Isaac grunted, finally rolling onto his back while trying to shoulder his rifle.

"Oh, grow a spine." Sufia grumbled unsympathetically, grabbing her laser pistol amidst the gunfire.

* * *

Warlord Yeohart stood with the Hierarchy officers. All of them were in a sour mood as they stared at the masses of their soldiers pouring south. Their poor dispositions were lent to the fact that they were already getting bad news. Their march had only just begun.

The Regulators were fighting back.

Hierarchy and Western Coalition raiders alike were demoralized and angered. Apparently, Regulator snipers with their silenced Excelsior rifles were cutting apart their forward scouts and advancing troops. Occasionally a squad of Regulators would fire assault rifles or other weapons at them when they charged ahead but it was all done to cover the Regulators' retreat. In other words, it was becoming exceedingly clear how the Regulators were going to fight. There was going to be no grand battle or final meeting place. The duster coated vigilantes were going to harass and ambush them every step of the way to Albany.

And the Regulator snipers were the worst of it. They commonly took down officers and other commanding figures. They usually waited until the forward troops were well in range before they fired so the men had too long of a distance to run back in order to retreat to safety. Some soldiers even claimed that the snipers were hitting them from _behind_.

Even more dismaying was that it wasn't just the Regulators fighting back. Some scouting troops were found with arrows in their bodies. Yeoharts soldiers explained that this was the work of the hunters from a group of people called the Nation. Some of the arrows had hit places where there were no vital organs or major blood vessels. This led them to the conclusion that their arrows were laced with a very toxic poison.

And now Hierarchy generals wanted to put Western Coalition troops into the vanguard.

Cowards, all of them were. Yeohart knew he was ruthless when he was on the war path but he was also not stupid. His raiders were important to him and he was not going to throw their lives away needlessly, especially on a venture that he was seeing to be more and more of a Hierarchy stupidity. The fact that they wanted to put his men in front told him that they saw him and his men more as tools or cannon fodder. They probably did this to weaken his forces so that they would not need to worry of a Western Coalition counter-strike while they sent armies to Albany.

And in spite of all of this, Yeohart could not help but smile with respect for the Regulators. They refused to go down without a fight.

Unfortunately, the Hierarchy were bringing bigger guns.

* * *

Bullets were exploding on the hard surfaces all around them. Furious was still trembling in his spiky ball, though it was uncertain if it was because of fear or rage, if not both. At the moment, all of them except for Isaac was firing blindly. Sufia had taken charge and had a very important question for Isaac.

"Who are they, Talon mercs?"

"Yes, black armor. Can't mistake the insignia." Isaac muttered, his rifle hissing as he fired a round.

Those words alone seemed to kick the others into gear. Suda and David started becoming more precise with their assault rifles, motivated to fight out the attackers that had dogged them for so long. Joseph remained behind cover, only peeking around the corner of the rock he was hiding behind to see if his arrows were landing on their targets. By aiming at a higher trajectory, he could remain behind cover while still firing arrows.

"Isaac, you should get behind cover. You're a sitting duck out in the open." Sufia warned, wondering how the man got this far if he had not done this earlier.

"Isaac!" Sufia snapped when Isaac remained where he was.

It was only then that she noticed that a snarl had formed on his lips.

"Isaac, talk to me, what's going on?" Sufia demanded.

Isaac did not answer, he got behind cover and fired, diving behind cover again only to snap off another shot.

Sufia immediately understood that something was wrong. Battle rage was markedly different from the anger or desperation commonly seen in a fight. Ones that were fueled by a kind of fanaticism or drug induced haze were easily taken care of by a veteran fighter. Regulators quickly learned how to exploit the lost faculties of the beserker's mind. However, the battle rage fueled by revenge or controlled fury could be frightening to watch.

One moment, Sufia saw in Isaac a bumbling kid, good natured and well intentioned with talents that could not be dismissed. But still, he was a bumbling kid.

The Regulator systematically and single handedly destroying the Talons was not Isaac.

"Is this normal for him?" Sufia demanded, looking back at the others while she readied an energy cell into her laser pistol.

"Not exactly, Ms. Sufia. Oy vey, did he actually blast that guy's head off with his rifle at _point blank_?" David hissed.

"We got to put him down before he hurts himself." Sufia muttered.

"Hurts himself? He's doing a good job hurting _them!" _David argued.

"He's being reckless." Joseph commented, finally stepping out into the open to fire an arrow.

"Any reason he's acting like this?" Sufia inquired.

"CLAIRE!" Isaac roared, still charging further and further away from his group.

"There's your answer, Ms. Sufia." David shrugged.

"That idiot…" Suda muttered.

* * *

Carl stood with his arms crossed in front of him, watching the decrepit wood of broken, ancient trees for movement. They were miles north of Albany on the Hudson River. Hierarchy and Western Coalition had gathered on the Western side of the river since that was the side Albany laid on. The frequent overhead fly bys from Lab 19 helicopters ferrying merchants and their goods had provided all the information they needed on their enemies progress. In response, Regulators and their Nation allies were conducting constant guerilla raids on the army. The Hudson River had simply become a staging point, a quick entry and getaway route for the green coated raiders.

Each of the Liberators had fallen into their jobs. Adam and James participated hands on in the raids. Sven was miles south of the army, manically planting land mines, rigging up bombs and generally activating numerous devices of mayhem. Carl had settled for helping the men land and then get away. It was his job to make sure the landing point was guarded and that there was no trouble.

So far, things have gotten off without a hitch. There had been several gunshot wounds from the Regulators, often caused by stray enemy bullets when they had made their withdrawals. Still, the Liberators knew it was only a matter of time before one of their allies lost their life. They were running off of the gambler's fallacy and their lucky streak had gone on way too long.

Still, it was something Carl did not want to think about.

Carl heard movement coming from the forest. New York had once been covered with dense woods of pine, maple and all assorted trees. A good many of them had been destroyed in the nuclear blasts and the nuclear winter that ensued later. Still, some trees managed to hold on. Even then, the hulls of the trees that had been destroyed still lingered on even after two hundred years. While they did not provide as much shade as their ancestors once did, they still provided a thick obstacle to any group of men trying to move.

And Carl could hear that there were a lot of them.

The giant leveled his gatling laser and comfortably sat it in front of him. For now he was not that concerned. So far, though he expected a herd of their enemies to be chasing his allies as they retreated back to the escape points, that had not occurred. Yet. Regardless, you could never be too careful.

Again, like all the other times previous, it was the squad of Regulators. None of their enemies chasing them.

"Boys." Carl grunted in greeting as Juan, Gerald, Anthony and Otto came panting up.

"Hey, Carl." Gerald gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Where are the others?" Carl inquired.

"Sven is finishing up the bombs. He should be here soon." Juan reported between breaths, for once regretting his smoking habit.

"Adam, James and some of the hunters from the Nation wanted to throw some confusion in the back ranks. They'll be taking their time since they have more of the enemy to avoid but they should be here soon too." Anthony added.

"Hmmm…" Carl grumbled, immediately becoming concerned for his friends. That seemed to have been quite an ambitious project.

Suddenly, without making a sound, three Hunters were in their midst. Their sudden and silent arrival immediately spooked the other Regulators but they had learned to expect this. The Regulators found it unnerving on how quiet they were able to get around but considering the circumstances they could not explain.

Carl still wished they would at least give them a warning.

"Were the others behind you?" Carl asked one of them.

The Hunter simply nodded, still grasping his bow like his two comrades.

The Hunters were not known for being people of many words.

Only a few moments later, they could hear the rapid patter of boots hitting the ground.

"Ah, Adam, James…Sven?" Carl asked, surprised that the latter had taken so long getting there.

"Really wanted to give that little extra can of happy on that old car wreck…should be a little more bright and burny when it goes." Sven blathered.

Carl just nodded, pretending he understood. He honestly wasn't sure if he really did.

"We got a problem." Adam announced, grim faced.

"What?" Carl asked, voicing the others' concern.

"James got a good look at what was at the rear of their army through his scope. Don't have a reason to question his judgment yet." Adam replied, motioning towards James.

"Artillery pieces are being dragged here. With those big guns they'll shell Albany and there won't be a think we could do about it." James explained, too tired to elaborate.

"Um…what's artillery?" Sven asked, apparently voicing what a few of the others wanted to know.

"Really big guns that can drop shells more explosive than your bombs from miles away." James answered.

"Blasphemy! I challenge anyone to make something of a larger explosion than my bombs." Sven grumbled.

"Regardless, we need to do something about this. Now." Adam replied.

* * *

The Spike Dogs had arrived to the conclusion, with the fact that they could no longer see any Talon mercs and all that could be heard was interment yelling, it was best to let Isaac bury his ghost on his own. In the meantime, the four waited while Furious shuffled around. The spike dog seemed confused, unsure why they were not moving like they usually did. Still, after a couple weeks if not a month or two of following them, Furious was in no habit to take off on his own at this point.

Eventually, the yelling had stopped but Isaac had not returned. All of them expected a final gunshot or hiss but no such sounds hit their ears. They started to wonder if Isaac had used his machete, fully expecting him to end the matter permanently.

"How did he survive for so long? He's probably weeping his heart out now for that good for nothing tramp." Suda grumbled.

"I take it you've all met her before?" Sufia asked curiously.

"Briefly. Not a bad girl. Guess she just hung out with the wrong crowd." David shrugged.

"Bright smile, sweet words but a shadow about her. A manipulator." Joseph murmured.

David cast a questioning look at him.

"Don't look so surprised. It fits." Joseph replied.

"I suppose." David muttered.

"Finally! Glad to know I was not the only one who caught that." Suda grumbled.

"Here he comes." Sufia announced.

Sure enough, Isaac was slowly stalking back towards them. His eyes were boring forward, brows knit in agitation.

"You certainly finished her off silently." Suda remarked as they all stepped in behind him.

"I didn't kill her." Isaac grumbled.

"Wait, what? Why? Are you insane?" Suda screeched.

"A curious move, Regulator." Sufia added.

"She's in no state to keep fighting us. I left her with her rifle and pistol and told her to stop following us. I told her she had better start making the right decisions or she would meet an untimely and unfitting end." Isaac replied.

"She deserves it." Suda growled.

"No she doesn't." Isaac glared at her.

"What is wrong with you? You said she had a rifle. I bet she was the one that shot you in the back!" Suda screeched.

"It was scoped. So yes, she did shoot me. She knew it was me." Isaac agreed.

"Then why didn't you kill her?" Suda demanded, feeling like she was talking to an idiot.

"She was my friend. She still is. I can still hope. I take my friends seriously." Isaac replied quietly, head bent low.

"You are either very idealistic, Isaac. Or very naïve." Sufia said.

"I know." Isaac answered softly.

"How did you survive this long?" Suda shook her head in frustration and disbelief.

"If this world is going to get better, if we're to have hope for the end of violence, someone is going to have to take that chance and not fire back. Someone is going to have to take that chance to not respond back to evil with more evil. Someone has to be the first to forgive." Isaac replied.

"The world doesn't work like that anymore." Suda snapped.

"No, we're just too afraid to go back." Isaac answered.


	35. Chapter 35

"_Every remedy is a desperate remedy. Every cure is a miraculous cure. Curing a madman is not arguing with a philosopher; it is casting out a devil."_

G. K Chesterton

"_All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds…"_

The most respected Qur'an

" _I prefer to extricate that intelligent man from his embarrassment and show him the cause of his perplexity, so that he may attain perfection and be at peace."_

Rabbi Maimonides

* * *

The convoy had come to a rest as it always did in the evening. They were getting close to Albany. The coalition forces of W.C raiders and Hierarchy soldiers stretched out for a couple miles but it was the precious artillery pieces in the back that were the most important. In fact, even the generals coordinating the assault were camped there too. Warlord Yeohart had grown confident being surrounded by his former enemies. Normally he would have regarded the situation too dangerous. The Hierarchy could easily assassinate him and cut off the head of their Western Coalition. However, after a couple of days, he and the other raiders started to realize something. The Hierarchy soldiers seemed a bit demoralized. A subtle desperation hung on the commanding officers of their enemies. Only just recently had he overheard in hushed tones the reason why.

General Omedea was dead, struck down by the infamous Liberators.

This was indeed good news and it explained why the Hierarchy had so quickly recruited them. This was not just an expedition of conquest. No, it would be a message of revenge. At least, Yeohart assumed that's what the Hierarchy wanted to convey. Personally, he thought the Regulators needed more respect than the Hierarchy was giving them. The fact that the New York vigilantes had struck and hounded them every step towards Albany was just one of the reasons. Under normal circumstances, marching armies would consider each forward step another small victory on their journey to the prize.

Instead, Yeohart almost felt that his raiders and Hierarchy soldiers, no matter how much closer they got to Albany, only felt more and more demoralized.

The green coated bastards knew what they were doing, even if they did not realize it. Sure, they had executed a few captured Regulators from the skirmishes but the few they had killed could not compare to the intolerable numbers Yeohart and the Hierarchy had lost to snipers, lightning ambushes and hidden bombs.

Still, in the morning sun, as the light began to rise over the Hudson, Yeohart felt an odd mix of emotions. Throughout all his years he had learned to relish every moment he was alive. It was exhilarating because at any moment it could all be snatched away. Still, while he did not immediately fear for his life, deep down he felt a dark sense of foreboding. Lately, he looked for bad omens everywhere but could not find them. Still, it did not change the fact that he was certain lady fate was frowning on them and that death's eternal grin was just a little more broader than usual when it gazed upon them.

And then, in the orange of the morning sun, blood was spilt again.

* * *

Adam stalked tensely through the dusty sand, heart rate up, bloodshot eyes strained in concentration. He, the rest of the Liberators, a team of other Regulators and Hunters had spent all night tracking the length of their enemies' convoy. Finally, having found where the four artillery pieces were being kept at the end of the line, the men formulated a plan while they waited in the dark woods. It was decided that Adam would take the risk of disappearing under the veil of a stealth boy, plant some plastic explosives from Sven on the large guns and then book it out of there before the detonator was pulled.

Adam was unsure of how much battery life was left in his stealth boy so the other Regulators waiting in the woods were prepared to start firing the moment they noticed he was in trouble. For now, all of their eyes were on him.

He however, was making sure that none of the enemy accidentally bumped into him while simultaneously trying to close in on the big guns. He silently cursed the heavy weight of the four explosive packs. He knew Sven was only trying to help and he'd rather have these big guns full out destroyed rather than salvageable. Still, couldn't the pyromaniac found a decent sized bomb in a smaller package?

Right in front of him was the first artillery cannon. The convoy had not hitched up to move yet so the heavy gun was safely stationary. Reaching for one of the four packs, Adam carefully knelt down and discreetly, if quickly, placed the package right under the gun.

Only three more to go.

* * *

Up on the wooded hill overlooking the invaders, James stared into his scope, trying to track Adam's movement. It was not exactly easy. He had heard that there was a trick to tracking someone who was under the veil of a stealth boy, it had something to do with looking for the distortion of the light. It was not easy, no matter how well trained you were to look for it.

Still, James was tense. Several things were bothering him all at once. On the more abstract end, James was acutely aware of the fact that several Regulators had already been killed since hostilities began. A good portion of them had been captured and were summarily executed. Though he knew that all those who had been lost always understood the risks associated with being a Regulator, James acutely felt responsible for their deaths. After all, wasn't he the one that executed the highest general of the Hierarchy, the son of the Hierarchy's Director?

More to the point, Adam was out there planting the bombs on the artillery pieces. James was all the more aware that Adam was again taking a calculated risk. His friend was already on shaky ground as far as his use of stealth boys went versus his mental health. Just how much more could they push it?

James caught a stray movement in the corner of his eye, near the edge of his scope's vision. Focusing on it, James guessed that Adam had finished placing the explosives. At least, he thought he was following Adam. For all he knew he could be following thermal columns of rising heat.

James was immediately agitated but if he thought he was following Adam's distorted, translucent outline, then it looked like the assassin was straying too close to a Hierarchy officer. At first James wanted to think that his friend had let his guard down and allowed one of the enemy to get too close to him. But…no!

"Seriously? Is Adam going to try and assassinate this guy? Just get out of there, Adam. There's no need to pull some reckless stunt!" James hissed under his breath.

Sure enough, an ugly gush of blood suddenly erupted from the officer's neck. James immediately took a quick glance around, making sure no one had noticed. At first, a momentary feeling of relief passed James at it looked like Adam was going to get away with it.

And then, all of a sudden, Adam was very visibly out in the open.

James' heart sank.

Adam, quite noticeably, had stopped dead in his tracks, pale.

At the bottom of the ridge, Sven, Carl and the other Regulators had also seen what had happen. Sven only let out one gasping, raspy remark.

"Well, crap."

* * *

Adam understood that his bloodlust had gotten the better of him in this situation. The four explosive packages had been set but that Hierarchy officer had wandered off by himself, probably to take a cigarette break, was just too tempting. Besides, with all the official looking marks on him, he was probably important. Adam decided he had the time to off him.

And then the battery ran out just after he finished the deed.

After the initial shock of being revealed had worn off, Adam understood he had to make a mad dash back to the safety of the tree line. Still, his comrades waiting the distance decided they should probably by him some security. Adam felt more than heard a shot fly past him and had no doubt in his mind that James had fired the first, silenced shot.

Burning napalm, gatling laser blasts and automatic fire erupted abruptly afterwards.

Despite the firefight that was trying to draw attention away from him, Adam was immediately aware that some of their enemies had spotted. He heard running feet sprinting after him while gunshots fired in succession, bullets passing dangerously close by him.

It was nothing he had not experienced before but it was never a pleasant experience, especially with the weight of all those years of heavy working starting to subtly press down on him.

Adam stared ahead. At the tree line he could see more of duster coated Regulators trying to give him covering fire. Rushing ahead of them, his incinerator aimed at a high arc, Sven was also trotting forward to meet him.

Adam felt a hand grab him, jerking him to a stop

It was a desperate struggle. In one moment, Adam found himself grappling with a Western Coalition raider. The young raider was strong and apparently fleet of foot because he had easily caught Adam. Like many fights in the wasteland, the melee was brutal and came to a surprising abrupt end.

Adam drove a dagger deep into the man's chest.

The dying enemy landed the butt of his pistol between Adam's eyes.

And for Adam, everything went black.

* * *

"Well, darn." Sven breathed, watching both Adam and the enemy fall still on the ground. The pyromaniac had grown relatively calmer with the years. Granted, his grasp on sanity was still sketchy at times and he still enjoyed nothing more than the act of igniting a glorious, raging inferno. Now, with Adam downed, Sven's instinct was to continue pressing forward and dragging Adam out of there.

He was immediately aware that he was slowed down by the incinerator which required both hands to operate properly. Another problem was that he was also carrying a heavy tank of extra fuel and explosives on his back. His heavily padded duster wasn't helping either.

Running towards Adam, Sven decided that if a bullet did strike his tank, if he was going to go out in a column of fire, he'd rather not survive it this time. He was getting too old for this. However, he highly doubted that would happen since in all his years of being a Regulator it hadn't happened before.

Both Carl and James watched in bafflement as Sven rushed, huffing his whole way, to retrieve Adam. Bafflement quickly turned to desperation and fury as both men worked to buy Sven and Adam some safety.

Sven quickly reached where Adam lay and kicked away the W.C raider that had fallen on Adam when he died. Crouching down, Sven realized that there was no way he was going to be able to carry Adam and his explosive pack at the same time. Without a second thought, Sven released a strap and the heavy bag fell from his back and onto the ground. Throwing Adam on his shoulder and then grabbing his incinerator, Sven turned and started trotting as fast as he could back towards the treeline.

He could see from the desperate concentration on Carl's face that he had to hurry.

Adam may have felt lighter than his bag of explosive goodies but still, Sven's lungs had been through too much over the years. He was already breathing heavily and he was still a good several yards from the tree line. James, taking a quick glance from peering through his scope, immediately saw what was happening.

"Carl, help him!" James shouted from his perch before sniping an enemy sharpshooter.

Sven was faltering, his knees starting to buckle at this point. Panting heavily behind his gas mask, he was about to force his burning muscles to keep going when felt Carl's massive hands reach down and heft him, Adam and the incinerator all up with unbelievable ease.

"Hang on." Carl grunted, carrying all of them and dashing back into the cover of the trees.

"Carl…" Sven panted.

"What's up, buddy?" Carl asked, carrying them as fast as he could.

"Run…" Sven gasped.

"What?" Carl asked in confusion, his brows furrowed.

Sven produced two detonators from his coat. Carl knew that one was the detonator for the four artillery pieces, but the other…

Sven's pack!

"Run!" Carl roared to the others.

It took a moment to register but within a moment all the Regulators on the ambush team suddenly realized exactly what was going on. Without further encouragement, the duster coated men hightailed it as far away as possible.

* * *

Warlord Yeohart and a few of the Hierarchy commanders watched from a distance. All of the military leaders were lost in their own thoughts. Yeohart was deeply troubled by this show of force. It had been a small force indeed but they had attacked their rear. The Regulators were brave, that was no doubt but there had to be more to this ambush than just simply getting a rise out of them.

Why did they hit when and where they did and then why did they leave so suddenly?

"Idiots. Sure they can run circles around us but do they think such pin prick attacks are going to stop us?" a Hierarchy officer spat.

Before anyone could respond, the ground shook as an earth shattering roar rent the air.

Thrown to the ground, Warlord Yeohart shakily got back to his feet, checking himself to make sure that he was not harmed. Several of his raiders came up to help him but he politely shrugged them off with his assurance that he was okay. It was then that he realized exactly what the olive coated prey had done.

The artillery pieces were in ruins and whatever soldiers had tried to pursue the Regulators had been blown into oblivion.

Yeohart could not help but smile.

"They may not stop us, but the bastards sure are smarter than you give them credit for." Yeohart muttered to one of his Hierarchy counterparts.

* * *

On a fast moving Regulator patrol boat, breathless Regulators kept watch as the boat hurriedly plowed south. They had to arrive at Albany quickly. The four Liberators were on board. The problem was that the status of one of them was rather murky.

"You know what's wrong with him, doc? I'm certain I've seen him take harder blows back in the day." Carl inquired.

In the center of the craft, Adam was unconscious, albeit fitfully trembling as he slept.

"I don't know." James threw his hands in the air in resigned frustration. "I've checked for everything. His vitals are fine for now and he does not seem otherwise injured. If I didn't know any better I would have guessed he was having a nightmare right now."

"Then why doesn't he wake up? We've tried snapping him out of it." Carl inquired.

"That's what bothers me. We need to get to Albany to see if there's any equipment I left there that might shed light on this." James explained.

Meanwhile, Sven leaned back heavily along the side of the boat. He did not seem to be in the best of spirits.

"You okay there, Sven?" Carl asked, noticing his rather heavy composure.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sven muttered.

"You sure? Now is not the time to be hiding anything if you got injured." James added.

"It's not that. It's just that now I have to make a new tank. It didn't make as big of an explosion as I thought it would." Sven said.

"Sven…it nearly threw us off our feet and we were deep in the woods by the time you detonated." Carl grumbled.

"I know! It should have at least fell a tree or two but it didn't!"

* * *

_As Adam woke up, he noticed that he was sitting at a dimly light bar. The rows of booze were stacked neatly along the shelves as he sighed and pulled out a cigarette. To his surprise another man, who had just appeared behind the bar, wearing a gray duster, wide brimmed hat and white shirt flicked the lighter open and lit the cancer stick for Adam._

_After pocketing it, and grabbing two shot glasses and a bottle of whisky, Adam saw the man's face._

_Lowell Morgan, albeit unscarred with the distinctive Death Claw slashes across his face, stood before him, blank faced. After pouring one of the drinks Adam nodded._

_"You're looking good, Lowell." He said._

_"__You__don't." Lowell said after pouring the last drink._

_"Yeah, well, I suppose I don't." Adam said as Lowell handed him a drink._

_"__Slàinte__." Lowell said as he held the glass before Adam in a toast. Adam clinked his glass against the other and said, "Cheers." Both of them then leaned back and downed the whisky._

_"So, you want to talk about it?" Lowell asked, crossing his arms._

_Adam didn't return his gaze as he then took another drag from his cigarette. "Talk about what?" He asked, trying to avoid the question._

_"Talk about why you're like this now." Lowell answered for him. "Because this is __not __the Adam Anders, that I grew up with. Nor the one I stood next to against a homicidal maniac." His voice was tinged with contempt._

_Adam still remained silent._

_"Kid, you may not be aware of this, but there comes a point when you have to quit." Lowell said as he then leaned against the bar. "Such as the fear you're garnering from your friends, and your wife." He said._

_This time Adam did stare at Lowell, being both insulted and full of contempt himself._

_"That's crap and you know it." Adam said angrily._

_"Really? Then why is it your men have started looking at you the same way that they look at a psychopathic raider or Enclave?"_

_"Shut up." Adam said as he tried to avoid Lowell's gaze._

_Scoffing, Lowell shook his head. He had always known better of Adam._

_"__Adam. Those Stealthboys you love using so much." Lowell said leaning in close to his old friend. "They've made you a schizophrenic."_

_Adam glared at Lowell._

_"Fact of the matter is, you're pushing yourself harder than needs be, as well as pushing your own Liberators and your wife to the point where they'll think they have to defend themselves." He looked Adam right in the eyes and added with a warning tone. "From you."_

_Now Adam really went of the rails. He leaned back and threw a hard hook right a Lowell's jaw._

_But to his surprise, he found he kept going forward. He let out a startled yelp as he crashed onto the floor behind Lowell._

_The older Regulator stood over Adam, his head shaking. "Even if I wasn't dead, I could still kick your butt." He said as he then offered his hand to help him up._

_Adam, infuriated at what he heard and knocked the hand away._

_"__Like you would know. This coming from a dead guy." He said, regretting the words coming out of his mouth almost instantly._

_His face remaining blank of any emotion, Lowell offered his hand again._

_Sighing Adam took the hand and noticed as he stood back up that the room was completely black, only he and Lowell stood out._

_"To really strike the message home, perhaps you should look at this." Lowell said as he stepped back, revealing a mirror._

_Adam couldn't recognize the figure he saw. All he did known was that it was an awful sight. The form in the mirror was extremely thin and looked exhausted. His eyes had black circles under them and were full of the same paranoia that the addicts that Adam often saw in James and Julia's home._

_"__This is what you're doing to yourself, Adam. You are slowly destroying yourself from the inside out." Lowell said._

_Adam sighed as he stared at the figure in the mirror._

_"Is this what I've been reduced to?" he asked flatly. More to the figure in the mirror. More to himself._

_Lowell, who was standing next to the mirror, sighed as well._

_"Adam, it's not just you you're destroying." Lowell said._

_The mirror seemed to darken as Adam's face disappeared from the mirror. The frame and Lowell seemed to be the only thing that Adam saw._

_What he saw next, nearly made Adam weep. The mirror now showed another face. The face of a middle aged woman, a river captain._

_His wife._

_Alex's face was that of sadness, tears streaming down her face. She was sitting across from Julia Vanderbraun in Julia's home._

_Adam turned to Lowell, and found both of them seemed to be in the Vanderbraun house. Yet both women seemed to think Adam and Lowell weren't even there._

_"Is this-" Adam began but Lowell nodded, knowing the answer._

_"This is happening right now." Lowell said as he calmly leaned against the wall. "As you're lying on your back right now, Alex is having the hardest conversation of her life at the moment." Then pointed back to the wives in front of them._

_"I'm-I'm getting scared Julia. I'm scared for Adam."_

_She then began crying even harder now. The scene made Adam sick to his stomach._

_"I don't know anymore Julia. I don't know anymore." Alex said as she wept. "I don't know who he is anymore." She said as she put buried her face in her hands out of shame._

_Julia sighed as she held onto Alexandria's arm. "I know. I know."_

_As she began calming down, wiping the tears from her eyes, she sniffled and glanced at Julia._

_"A few weeks ago, he actually slept with his submachine gun under his pillow, and a stealthboy on his arm. Like we were going to be attacked right there." She said scoffing._

_"It's-it's like he isn't there anymore." Alex said as Julia stared at her in disbelief._

_"Alex...you shouldn't say things like that." Julia said but Alexandria just shook her head._

_"Julia. I don't believe him. I don't believe he says he'll retire after this is done." She said, sniffling as she began regaining her composure. "If he doesn't quit the moment he gets home..."_

_Adam felt himself dropping to his knees. The woman he had come to love more than anything had just delivered the ultimatum that Adam had secretly feared for a long time._

_"I'll..." Alex began, before she sighed and then looked Julia in the face. "I'll leave him forever."_

_Julia acted decisively, bending down so that she was face to face with Alexandra and she spoke with a serious tone. _

_"__Never__, say anything like that in my house again." Julia said. "Adam Anders, despite all his faults, loves you. And if he ever wants to get past this addiction of his, he'll need your full support."_

_Alex sighed ruefully. "He scares me, Julia. I'm afraid that he'll do something...to me. Something that he'll never forgive himself for." Alex said tentatively. "Perhaps you should ask your own husband how he feels."_

_Alexandria then stood on her feet and quickly proceeded out of the house, slamming the door behind her._

_Adam lowered his head, ashamed at what he just heard, ignoring the fact that everything around him faded again into darkness._

_"Did...did she really...say those things?" Adam asked his eyes beginning to get misty._

_Lowell sighed behind him. "What do__you__think?" He asked mournfully._

_Adam, then began sobbing quietly. His team, his colleagues, his friends, even his own wife, no longer saw him as a leader, a friend, a regulator, not even a husband._

_"__Look kiddo, I can't do anything to really help you anymore." Lowell said as he knelt down beside him. "Save one last time. One last piece of advice."_

_"__If you truly love your team, and your wife, give this life up. Let them know it's not too late for you. Finish your job, and spend the last portions of your life in peace, and happiness." Lowell said then gave an ironic grin. "Like I never got to enjoy until the last minute."_

_Adam mused on what had just happened. He saw all the signs, all the warnings, yet he ignored everyone of them. He wondered if it wasn't too late._

_He hoped that it wasn't too late for one last reprieve._

_"__Alright?" Morgan asked giving him an playful jab in the shoulder. "Huh?"_

_Adam grinned, tears still flowing from his eyes. Then he gave a single quick nod._

_"__Okay." he said._

_Lowell nodded as both men got to their feet._

_"__Well," Adam began, still lamenting on what he had to do. "What now?"_

_As he stared at Lowell, he suddenly got nervous. Lowell was grinning. One Adam recognized as a grin from their childhood._

_"__First it's time to wake up." Lowell said. "And this is for trying to hit me."_

_Just before Adam completely blacked out, he remembered Lowell's balled up fist slamming into his face._

* * *

Evelyn and the Brotherhood scout did not take any time to linger at the New York docks. They were already running the moment they stepped off from the ship. Evelyn was following the scout as he had a better idea of where the front lines were than she did.

Hearing her own breathing echoing in her helmet as she clutched her tri-beam laser, she wondered what she was going to tell the rest of her squad. Did Birns, Felson and Hardings already know? It was going to be hard enough with just seeing her return. The fact that she had been abducted and put through all of that torture seemed to have happened an eternity ago. What would she say?

And then she felt that old sting, the need for a Med-X.

Growling, she reached into her bag, found an open port in her armor that allowed for the entry of a syringe, and slammed one of the detox compounds her mother had given her into the hole. She realized that eventually she would have to fight that demon on its terms without the help of a detox but now was not the time. She had to take one fight at a time.

She suddenly ran right smack into the scout who had stopped dead in his tracks.

"Scout, what the heck, what's wrong?" Evelyn demanded.

"Sorry, Knight Captain. Is your radio on? Turn it onto the universal channel, the one we're sharing with ENCOM." The scout explained.

Activating the proper component, a cacophony of noise suddenly flooded her ears and Evelyn could hear both voices of Brotherhood and ENCOM commanders shouting and giving orders. It was immediately apparent that something had gone terribly wrong. She tried to listen to the voices she knew. Just barely she caught a conversation going on between Elder Hail and Paladin Rufus.

"Are you _sure_ Rufus? Are you sure it's the same creature we saw on the old _Defiance?_" Hail demanded.

"Affirmative. We have to get out of here! Can't you hear ENCOM? They're pulling out their troops too!" Rufus shouted.

"How did this happen? How did it go from the mutant army to that monster?" Hail inquired.

"The army disappeared down by the shore, we lost visual and the next thing we know, it comes back with all these plates of mirelurks on it. There is no mistaking it, Hail. I remember it like you do! Hell, even ENCOM remembers!" Rufus asserted.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot! All troops, pull back! Pull back! Organize into a retreat! Disengage!"


	36. Chapter 36

"_You ask me why I do not write something…I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought to all be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results."_

-Florence Nightingale

* * *

Dense woods of all manner of trees used to cover the state of New York before the Great War that washed the world in an atomic cleansing. Now all that remained were the bare hulls of sparse trees. Between the skeletal woods and the decrepit landscape, there were few things to dull the noise of gunfire.

It was hard to pick up but those with sharp ears in Albany were now able to hear gun fire beyond the horizon every now and then. People understood that the returning Regulators who came back from the ambushes had been harassing the approaching enemy but no one talked about it. Some people were holding onto a forlorn hope that maybe their enemies would just give up, turn around and go away before they ever got there.

But now with gunfire being heard in the distance, the reality of the situation was starting to sink deep in everyone's stomachs. No one could see the army that threatened their city yet. Still, the Regulators that returned from their strike missions were becoming more and more grim. Some even returned panting. Their assailaints were right at their doorsteps.

There was little anyone could do.

It was in this tense and agitated atmosphere that Adam woke up.

James and Alexandra had waited around for hours, keeping an eye on the unconscious Liberator. In the end, as much as it pained James to say it, he couldn't understand why Adam was out for as long as he was. It did not seem like their friend was in mortal danger, still, being unconscious was never a good sign. Alexandra was obviously upset about the whole thing despite trying to put up a brave face about it entire time.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. You remember anything?" James asked deftly as Adam let out a groan.

"How'd I get here? I just remember planting the bomb, my stealth boy going out and getting into a fight. I got a big gap after that."

"Sven and then Carl saved your sorry hide. I guess your memory is good enough. How many fingers am I holding up?" James inquired.

"Three." Adam mumbled.

"Good enough. I take it you can move your limbs too?" James continues.

"I'm good, doc. You mind making an exit so I can speak with my wife?" Adam said quickly.

"He's all yours, Alex." James said with a shrug before leaving the ship.

Alexandra, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, was staring at Adam coldly. She had heard enough about how Adam got himself into trouble. Clearly, she was not at all happy about it. Adam knew that she was giving him just once chance to explain himself. He had better make that chance count.

"Alex, we need to talk." Adam started, wearily sitting up in bed.

* * *

Night had fallen over New York City. Delta Sierra watched the sprawling urban center from the open side of the vertibird while Athena piloted it to their destination. New York City had once been a center of so many lights. Any vehicle or aircraft entering the city limits would immediately be struck by the sheer number of gleaming lights radiating from street lamps and buildings. New York was once the city that never slept.

Now, its empty buildings stood lifeless, unlit save for fledging fires and battery powered lights that signaled cradles of civilization.

And, judging by the radio traffic he was hearing, that civilization was under threat.

Listening through the receiver in his helmet, Delta Sierra tried to piece together exactly what was happening. He had already gathered that the mutant army had been assimilated into the conglomerate that was the vile monstrosity now menacing the city. ENCOM forces had mostly evacuated, save for the vertibirds that were circling overhead to keep an eye on the creature. Brotherhood of Steel troops were making an interesting strategy on the fly.

"All knights, regroup at the House, I repeat, regroup at the House." Elder Hail commanded over the universal channel.

"Elder, someone should contact the Supervisor there. They may not appreciate a sudden influx of-"

"Screw what he thinks, all knights report there! If he has a problem we'll deal with it later!" Elder Hail cut off Rufus.

"This is Knight Captain Vanderbraun, we should evacuate civilians from the general area and also point them to the House or the Wall. Civilians casualties should be kept to a minimal." Evelyn's voice chimed in.

Delta Sierra let a wry smile cross his face as silence punctured the radio transmissions. The Enclave agent doubted that Evelyn truly understood the genius behind her suggestion, after all she had no clue what the monster was capable of. Still, for humane reasons or not, it was a suggestion neither the Enclave or the Brotherhood could afford to ignore.

"All knights, evacuate all civilians spotted, I repeat, evacuate all civilians in the area." Elder Hail conceded.

"This ENCOM, all vertibirds not tasked with keeping surveillance on the entity should sweep the surrounding area and evacuate civilians."

New York City just got a lot more chaotic.

* * *

Regulators and armed recruits milled about Albany like nervous, frenzied ants. Snipers posted at the northern end of the city had confirmed that they were catching glimpses of the approaching army through their scopes. Regulator marksmen had kept their enemies from advancing further. Between the Albany ruins and the rough area that provided cover for the W.C and Hierarchy troops was a very long expanse that offered little cover. For now, their enemies did not seem too keen on sending troops to be senselessly shot up and the Regulators were not inclined to make a counter assault.

All that could be done in the meantime was prepare for the worse with barely contained panic.

Everyone who could was carrying a weapon. Even Julia had dusted off her old plasma rifle although it weighed more heavily on her than she remembered. Both she and James stood within the central square of Albany watching as people were doing everything from stockpiling ammo, carrying supplies or even considering the thought of evacuating.

"Ten years sunk into rebuilding this place…and it looks like it might all disappear in just a few short days." James muttered darkly, clutching his Excelsior rifle closely.

"We're not giving this up without a fight." Julia said firmly.

"We harassed them to no end all along the northern highway and yet with that whole army out there…it looks like they could just swarm this place and push us aside." James replied quietly, staring off into the distance.

"James, you've fought worse odds." Julia reminded bluntly.

"Hmmm…good point. I'm glad I keep you around." James admitted.

"Mom, dad!" a voice called behind them.

Julia had already flown from her spot and had caught Isaac in a tight embrace. Turning around, James cast an analyzing glance at what he saw. His oldest son had returned and his mother was already fussing to no end over him. James could see that some things had changed, most notably that Isaac had added a new look to his duster. It was stylized with rows of…spines? And who were these other people with him?

James stared skeptically at a rodent like creature about the size of a volley ball at Isaac's feet. It looked like a ball of spikes and appeared to have an equally prickly temperament.

"Isaac, it's been too long! Who are your new friends?" Julia greeted, about to brush the dust off his coat but then hesitated after noticing the spines embroidered into the fabric.

Julia did not say anything but she was very suspicious of the woman hanging onto Isaac's arm.

"Mom, this is Tanya. She was a state of slavery somewhere on the road. We got her out." Isaac started. His mother could see a bit of pride in his eyes. She did not know it yet but Isaac had been true to his word. The woman in captivity who refused to believe in freedom, he had returned to bust her out.

"You managed to purchase her freedom?" James asked curiously.

"No. I saved the caps myself. Your son just filled my head with the idea that I didn't have to live that way. I saved the money. He just provided the opportunity to leave." Tanya explained quietly. It had been a long and harrowing journey, certainly much further than she had ever traveled.

"But she's going to need help here, mom. She's blind." Isaac cautioned.

"I can think of something, Isaac. We'll find a place for her here." Julia nodded.

"And who are your other friends?" James asked, a chuckle hanging on his voice.

Isaac's teammates were staring at James wide eyed with gaping mouths.

"This is David and Joseph, the guys Francis assigned to me." Isaac introduced.

"Why did you tell us your parents were the Liberators!" David exclaimed at Isaac.

Joseph was still too flabbergasted to respond.

Isaac only shrugged awkwardly.

"Julia? James? Is it really you two?" a voice called from the back.

It was James and Julia's turn to be shocked into speechlessness when Sufia revealed herself, stepping up to greet them.

"Sufia? Where have you been all these years!" Julia cried, the three friends stepping in closer to embrace each other.

"Wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me that this Isaac over here is your Isaac?" Sufia demanded.

"Yes, same Isaac, just grown up after twenty some years." James nodded.

"Well, why didn't you say anything? Geez, I used to babysit you." Sufia chided Isaac.

"Hey, I love the attention and all, but why is everyone bustling around like there's a fire?" Isaac interrupted, desperate to get out of the spotlight.

"…Isaac, perhaps you should walk with us a moment. A lot has happened while you were gone." Julia said quietly, leading her eldest son and Tanya away.

"So, what exactly is all the fuss about?" David asked curiously.

"Mr. Vanderbraun?" Joseph asked cautiously, not sure how to approach the living legend standing just within arm's reach.

"You can call me James." The marksman offered cordially, he did not smile although his voice was friendly.

"Uh…James, is Francis around? We obtained the seeds that he wanted." Joseph sputtered.

* * *

Knight Captain Vanderbraun, Knights Birns, Felson and Initiate Hardings moved briskly through the deserted city streets. While Evelyn may have suggested the Brotherhood of Steel to evacuate whatever isolated groups of civilians that were in the area, Elder Hail had given the Carbide Tempest a special assignment on top of the evacuation.

Monitoring the monstrosity that threatened their city.

"What do we know about this thing? Why is everyone freaking out about it? Couldn't we just drop a lot of bombs on it?" Initiate Hardings asked curiously as they stalked through the ruins. At the moment, the four Brotherhood knights were in a narrow alley between buildings. Evelyn was trying to get them into a more maneuverable place. Bad things tend to happen when you're not in a good position.

"I don't know. I heard it's some kind of huge, flesh thing that consumes other organisms and absorbs their body, organs and tissues. It can rearrange itself to make itself tougher to kill." Knight Felson shrugged, retightening his grip on his Tesla Cannon.

"It sounds like some of the older knights fought this kind of monster before, back when the chapter was stationed aboard the _Defiance_." Birns said.

"You mean that wreck was floating once?" Hardings inquired.

"Yes! Gosh Hardings, do you ever pay attention?" Felson grumbled.

"Gentlemen, I need you to be quiet." Evelyn warned, suddenly slowing down her steps.

"Something wrong, Knight Captain?" Birns asked.

The Carbide Tempest had quickly and readily settled back in with Evelyn being in command. Unfortunately, while they did not have time to mourn it, they still were getting used to the loss of Lowell. Evelyn's promotion as squad leader only served to remind them of that fact.

"Look at the ground…it just got wet." Evelyn whispered.

The blacktop in front of them glistened with heavy moisture. Barely reflecting the moonlight over their heads, it was hard to tell just exactly what the nature of it was. Normally, such a detail meant nothing. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.

"Wait, why is that important?" Hardings asked, voice just barely above a panic.

"Because that monster usually leaves a layer of mucus before the rest of it arrives…" Felson growled through clenched, agitated teeth.

Evelyn knelt down and with an armored glove, touched the layer of fluid. When she pulled her finger back, the fluid stuckfast to the gauntlet. Evelyn bit her lip in response.

"Wait, I thought that thing was behind us." Birns said quickly.

"…Well…now it's in front of us too." Evelyn replied in a hush tone. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a snakelike, sickeningly blue vein swim through the fluid, heading closer towards them. The layer of fluid suddenly grew thicker and cloudier.

"We need to get out of here!" Evelyn shouted, bolting up and leading them back.

"But we just saw it back there! We're surrounded!" Hardings cried.

"Shut up, let me think." Evelyn growled through her helmet. Her heart jumped when she found what she was looking for.

A door leading inside one of the nearby buildings.

"Get in, hurry!" Evelyn ordered, wrenching the door open while pointing inside the building.

The vile ooze was growing thicker and gaining a pinker hue. The muscle mass that always followed the mucus was closing in on them.

The Carbide Tempest troopers instinctively started climbing the stairs, their metal boots landing heavily on the ancient material. All of them tried to ignore the biting thought that there could be a weak spot in the structure that could easily give way under a heavily armored knight. Under normal circumstances this was not usually a problem. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.

Evelyn slammed the door shut and brought up the rearguard.

"This is Knight Captain Vanderbraun, we are stranded at Mt. Eden, Townshend avenue. We are heading to the top of one of the buildings. Be advised, we are surrounded by the creature, I repeated, we are surrounded and need immediate evac." Evelyn spoke into her transmitter.

All of them felt their hearts beat rapidly in the several seconds of silence they heard over the radio.

"This ENCOM, we are dispatching vertibird Raphael to your position-."

"Belay that, this is Delta Sierra. Athena is in the area. We will evac the stranded team." Another voice broke into the transmission.

There was little time to breathe a sigh of relief as the Brotherhood knights hurried to get to the top of the building. Birns was immediately scanning the surrounding area with the help of his scope. Yes, the buildings obscured any good view but what he could pick out was dismaying enough.

The creature was covering an area of roughly three city blocks. He could not have known it but that was three times larger than the original monster the Liberators had lit up two decades ago. Still, right now was not the time to figure out what to do. They needed an immediate evacuation.

"Um, guys…it's…climbing up the building." Initiate Hardings squeaked.

"What?" Birns sputtered.

Glancing over like Hardings had been doing, they could see that the vile, fleshy goo was starting to attach itself to the stone and concrete that lined the building. Adhering to the rough surface, it was building the density of its tissue to slowly climb up the complex.

"ENCOM, we need that evac _now!_" Evelyn screamed into her radio.

"This is Athena, it would be helpful if you could somehow signal your precise location." A woman's voice replied.

"I got that." Felson announced, yanking out a mini-nuke from his backpack and rushing towards the building's edge.

"Felson, are you sure that's a good idea?" Evelyn demanded.

"Too late!" Felson shot back.

A blast of superhot air followed promptly after Felson had dropped the heavy round over the side.

Almost immediately after the blast they could hear the whine of vertibird engines and spotted the approaching aircraft. Displaying the prowess of a daring if highly skilled pilot, Athena brought the aircraft practically within their midst.

And then they felt the roof structure starting to sway.

"Guys, I think I broke the building." Felson said nervously.

The vertibird's side door opened to the panicking Carbide Tempest troopers. They were greeted by a familiar Enclave agent in a heavily modified stealth suit.

"You lack subtlety. You better get in." Delta Sierra told them sarcastically.

Athena had brought them to a higher elevation after each knight had been safely retrieved. Watching from a better point of view, they were able to see the apartment buildings collapse upon the massive creature, the first ruined structure colliding into another, setting off a domino effect.

"Haha, you think that might have done it?" Hardings whooped.

"No. Watch." Delta Sierra said, pointing to one end of the vile mass.

While severely wounded, they could see that the fleshy mound was recollecting itself. Sliding what it could from under the wreckage, the massive flood of blood and tissues sloughed onto a major highway and started to follow the path of the old road.

"Where is it going?" Birns asked.

"It's following the path that leads to the George Washington Bridge." Delta Sierra reported.

* * *

Even robots were not immune to the flurry of activity that had captured Albany. The factory had gone into overload, manufacturing bullets in anticipation of the coming battle. While Asimov oversaw most of the operations he was still required to make sure the machinery kept running.

"Confound those bloody, mongrels out there! Couldn't they have chosen a better time to invade rather than all the machinery decides to work at half functionality!" Asimov complained loudly while trying to repair a vital press part that had stopped working.

Whiskers the rat sat next to him on his hind legs, unsure of what to do.

"Where did I put that bloody tool?" Asimov growled, fumbling for a wrench nearby.

Whiskers crept over, grabbed the tool in his snout and handed into the robot.

"Thanks, rodent." Asimov said before working feverishly on the machine.

Whiskers watched on in curiosity as Asimov finished his project.

"Finished, now I got to check on Sven, see if those explosives are ready." Asimov announced, whirring around on his chassis and heading for the open door.

Whiskers gave a squeak of excitement, bounded up and landed on Asimov's brain case, settling in for the ride.

No one could tell, but Asimov felt a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Back in the lab, Sarah was trying to bury herself in her work to block out the thought of a war erupting right outside her door. She was finding limited success in both her experiments and her desire to ignore the conflict. Still, she had to keep trying. She was no fighter and she refused to join in the panic of the anxious masses out there.

She looked up when the door opened in front of her.

Seeing Julia come in did not surprise her. The older woman was always a welcomed sight in her makeshift laboratory and within the past few months Sarah had started to see Julia as both a teacher and friend despite their differences in ages.

What was surprising was that Julia was leading a blind woman whom she had never seen before into the shop.

And right behind them was a handsome young Regulator whom she had never seen before either.

"Sarah, big news." Julia announced breathlessly, apparently very excited with recent turn of events.

"What's up Julia?" Sarah asked earnestly, though stealing glances at the Regulator.

"First, pause your research with water filtration. A Regulator team has obtained quite a bit of seeds from a live tree out west. Francis is insistent that we try to find a way to make sure the soil is suitable for the seeds we have. Sure, the seeds came from a tree that grew in a radioactive environment but I don't think Francis wants to take any chances." Julia shrugged.

"Sounds good, Julia. I'll get started on that right away." Sarah nodded.

"Also, you're well versed in using those pre-war typewriter's right? Do you know how to teach someone how to type like you do without looking at the keys?" Julia inquired.

"Yes, I can do that. It takes awhile but it's nothing too difficult." Sarah replied.

"I'd like you to meet Tanya. She's blind but she's got spirit. James has been talking with me and we'd like to get started on recording books down, creating a library. Still, we have to start small. I'd like you to train Tanya on how to touch type. It might be a challenge but I'm sure you both can be patient with each other." Julia said, guiding Tanya's hand to shake Sarah's.

"Nice to meet you, Tanya." Sarah greeted.

"Nice to meet you too…just be patient with me." Tanya replied cautiously.

"Don't worry, I will be. I've watched grass grow and learned how to assemble bombs. It would be nice to actually talk with a person for a change." Sarah assured.

"Thank you, Sarah. I'm glad you're willing to plan ahead beyond this stupid war. Everyone is so wrapped up in it. We still need people willing to plan after we survive it." Julia grumbled.

"Speak of which, I better go check and see if I'm needed anywhere. I'll see you later, mom." Isaac announced before promptly leaving the door.

Sarah was monumentally disappointed that they had not been introduced.

Julia let out a deep breath, as if forcing herself to calm down.

"Uh, Julia, was that your son back there? I didn't know you had another son." Sarah asked cautiously, helping Tanya to a seat.

"Ah, yes, Isaac. He's my oldest. Technically he's adopted so you would never see the family resemblance but we found him and raised him as our own. We never let anyone tell him that he wasn't our just because he was adopted." Julia smiled proudly if wearily.

"Oh. I should meet him some time." Sarah said carefully.

"Yes, that would be fine." Julia nodded.

"Uh…is he seeing anyone?" Sarah asked quietly.

"Way to be subtle, sister." Tanya snickered.

Julia meanwhile stood with her arms folded, an eyebrow raised at the younger woman while a bemused smile hung on her face.

"I'm just asking!" Sarah protested.

"…Knowing Isaac, if you really wanted to get his attention, you might have to hit him over the head with a crowbar." Julia finally said.

"What?" Sarah asked in confusion.

"Go do your research, Sarah. I'll see if I can send my son around here on an errand sometime." Julia replied, shaking her head slightly.

"Uh, thanks, I'd like that." Sarah admitted, a shade of red forming on her cheeks.

"By the way, be nice to him. If you hurt my oldest son, I'll break some of your equipment." Julia warned before shutting the door.

* * *

ENCOM and Brotherhood forces held a lengthy radio discussion over the sudden turn of events. No one was expecting the Carbide Tempest to accidentally collapse several apartment building onto the creature and quite a few people were disappointed that it did not outright kill the creature.

"Latest intel states that the creature is on the George Washington Bridge. Any clue as to what it is doing?" Elder Hail asked over the transmission.

"We have visual from the air. The creature is already crossing the bridge. It is headed in New Jersey." Delta Sierra explained, speaking into the transmitter.

"We have no forces in New Jersey. Is it possible that it's leaving the city?" Elder Hail offered.

"What do you believe, Delta Sierra? You were the one within their home vault." ENCOM asked.

The Carbide Tempest troopers watched silently as they saw the agent silently racking his brain.

"Everything I saw suggests that its main goal was to first ruin New York City. I think it's more likely that it's going to regroup and lick its wounds before coming back. We should prepare for its return." Delta Sierra replied.

"We will constantly monitor it from the air but we will need expert troops. Brotherhood of Steel, don't you have men in your ranks that were at the destruction of the original creature?" ENCOM inquired.

"Negative, that was the work of the New York Regulators." Elder Hail replied.

Evelyn watched breathlessly as Delta Sierra locked eyes with her in an accusatory glare.

"Where are your parents and their friends? We need them." Delta Sierra demanded of her.

"They- they're in the middle of a big war in Albany. I don't know if they'll be able to return here in time." Evelyn sputtered.

"ENCOM, this is Delta Sierra again. We have information that the particular Regulators who killed the creature, the Liberators, are bogged down in a conflict in Albany." Delta Sierra reported.

"Affirmative, agents report that two armies are about to clash in the old capital region but we don't have any resources to commit to the area." ENCOM informed.

"We will call up the Phlygas battle walker, there's nothing that stopped that robot before." Elder Hail said.

"We're going to need more than that. ENCOM, are you sure we cannot even commit a squad of elite troops to Albany?" Delta Sierra demanded.

"We can commit no further troops." ENCOM replied firmly.

Delta Sierra hesitated a moment before finally speaking in reply.

"ENCOM, permission to activate Agent Epsilon Nu. I repeat, permission to activate Epsilon Nu."

A moment of silence hung on the transmission.

"Permission granted. We will begin preparations to activate Agent Epsilon Nu."


	37. Chapter 37

"_The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways – I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows." _– Socrates

"_The greatest penalty of evildoing is to grow into the likeness of bad men." _– Plato

"_Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing_._"_ – Thales

* * *

Furious had gotten himself into a bit of a pickle. Joseph, David, Isaac, Sufia and Suda had all gone in separate directions. Usually this was not much of a problem but now that they were in a town there was no shortage of people around to easily confuse him. Sure, Furious was bad mannered but that did not mean he would just follow anyone. Confused, the spike dog shuffled around a bit, trying to find a familiar face amidst a sea of strangers.

Instead, he bumped into a gang of rats.

Furious had never seen a rat before, much less four of them all at once. The spike dog was immediately cautious and the rats were rather startled themselves. While the rats tensed up and watched Furious intently, the spike dog went into what was a knee jerk reaction.

Furious rolled up into a spiky ball.

One of the rats, Whiskers, took the initiative and pattered forward, just a little.

Furious curled up tighter and growled.

Keeping a healthy distance away from the menacing spikes, Whiskers nonetheless sniffed a few times.

Underneath the heavy coats of stickers, Furious huffed angrily.

That seemed to get the other rats interested. All of them kept their distance but appeared to wonder what peculiar animal was in fact in their midst.

Furious was not at all pleased with all this attention.

As if on cue, Suda happened to be walking by, her heavy combat boots landing in the sand.

"Come on, spike ball. Let's go find your idiot friends." Suda grumbled.

Relieved to hear a familiar voice, Furious promptly popped back onto his four paws and trotted off, hot on Suda's heels.

The rats, still wide eyed, pondered what strange new creature had arrived on their turf.

Whiskers wondered if it liked cheese.

* * *

How many years had they done this?

By now it was more reflex and muscle memory than anything else. James, Carl and Sven sat together, preparing their weapons. Clips were rechecked and fastened, guns cleaned and verified as operational. James made sure to sharpen his palm blade machete while Carl hefted his hammer a couple times to loosen up his muscles.

Sure, other onlookers may have considered the sight of the Liberators preparing for battle as a welcoming sight. It was like watching a hurricane barreling down from the horizon. It was the harbinger that a devastating force of nature was about to be unleashed.

For the Liberators it may have been business as usual but all of them knew in the back of their minds one grim fact. James and Sven were only in their late fourties, Carl had just broke the fifty mark. Still, they were getting too old for this.

For many reasons, this could very well be their last mission. It could very well catch up to them.

"Guys, we need to talk." Adam announced, suddenly in front of them.

Adam still wore his duster like it was meant to be on him. Only the tip of his Chinese longsword peeked from his coat but only a fool would judge him from that one detail. His comrades knew that an armory of daggers and knives were under that coat, that and a silenced pistol or two. You never knew with Adam.

And yet, it looked like he had aged a couple years since they last saw them.

"This is going to be my last mission. When Albany is safe…I'm turning in my duster. It's…been…extraordinary to work with you guys." Adam finally admitted with a pained face.

There was some silence for awhile as no one moved or spoke.

"It was an honor working under your leadership." James finally nodded.

"You're doing the right thing, man." Carl said.

"Good idea, but thanks for all the stuff that needed blown up." Sven added.

And, oddly enough, that was enough of that topic.

"…So, when do you think they'll launch that all out attack?" Adam asked awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

"Honestly, with the snipers up there covering that empty expanse and them still hiding down there, not sure." James replied, locking a clip into his rifle.

* * *

David, Isaac, Suda and Joseph had been transferred to one of the fast moving Regulator patrol boats. For now, there was a small armada sitting just outside the Albany harbor. While some were faced south to act as a rapid evacuation force should the worse occur, the majority of the Regulator ships were faced north towards the enemy. The particular boat the four were on was at the vanguard, the first line towards the enemy.

David glared towards the general direction of where the invaders were camped to the north. He was in a sour mood and he was blaming that army somewhere out there. It was apparent that they had arrived back home in timely fashion. Albany, and rumor had it that also New York City, was under siege while Joseph's people were basically camped out west of Albany.

The problem for David was that while everyone else had their family here in Albany, he was worried about his wife and daughter back home in New York. Isaac was able to catch up with his parents. (The fershtinker didn't even mention his parents were the Liberators.) Joseph had been able to check on his own friends and family camped west of the city. Even Sufia had been welcomed back by her old Regulator friends after being gone for decades.

And here he was stuck in the wrong city.

Still, Francis had given his orders and he was already here. It bothered him to no end not knowing how Rachel and Shiloh were doing but he had to finish his duties here.

"You okay there, David?" Isaac asked, noticing how his friend was still glaring.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish those idiots would mach shnel so I could hurry home. The sooner we can punch them in the kishka the better." David grumbled.

The others nodded, sympathetic to David's situation. They were all getting antsy with waiting. The waiting before a battle was always hardest, especially when it did not seem clear when exactly the lines would clash. No one wanted to dwell on the cold fact that there was a high chance they wouldn't make it out alive. Even worse was the thought that they could also lose someone, if not more, of the people they loved.

"I didn't expect you to stay." Isaac said to Suda as she stood around.

"I got nothing better to do and it's not like I'm going to find a job around here with everyone geared for a fight." Suda muttered, brushing her long hair out of her face.

"You could have left, no reason to put your life in danger for a bunch of people you don't know, much less care about." Isaac shrugged.

"The thought crossed my mind, but…"

"But what?" David asked.

"Well…I just recently found the woman who gave birth to me. If she's insistent on fighting here I might as well stay too. I don't like her yet, don't feel like I owe her anything, except maybe the chance to try and get to know her. Can't do that if you all get overrun." Suda admitted.

"Guess we all have a reason to make sure this city holds then." Joseph murmured.

* * *

"Who is Agent Epsilon Nu?" Evelyn asked as Delta Sierra ended his transmission.

The agent only gave her a sideways glance through his helmet before answering.

"ENCOM special infiltration agent trained specifically for a situation like this." Delta Sierra replied.

"What, you guys planned specifically for 'giant flesh eating creature the size of a city block?'" Evelyn joked.

"Only because it happened once before and only because we had the answer. Epsilon Nu was made for this." Delta Sierra replied.

"And how so?" Evelyn inquired.

"That's the most I can tell you." Delta Sierra replied, sitting back down.

"So now what's the plan?" Birns asked as he rechecked his rifle.

"We're going to keep trailing this creature awhile before I drop you guys back at your base." Delta Sierra informed.

"Wait, how do you even prepare, much less train for this specific monster?" Evelyn demanded.

Delta Sierra did not immediately respond and Evelyn would have been infuriated to know that underneath his helmet, he was smirking at her.

"A pity you don't know the answer. Still, we're going to need the Liberators. I just need to think on how to bring all of this together." Delta Sierra muttered.

"It will take some time for Epsilon Nu to be activated and deployed." Athena reminded from the cockpit.

"Exactly, which means we have time to prepare for an appropriate response." Delta Sierra agreed.

"But that also means this sucker has time to regroup too." Hardings said.

"And that's the unfortunate truth. We're just going to have to hope our response will overrule that." Delta Sierra murmured.

* * *

May was the proprietor and chief server at The View in the old Empire State building. Now known as "The House" the towering skyscraper was the home to countless people and was once the most populated center of civilization of the people living in New York City, having only just recently been surpassed by The Wall. Still, The House was considered the most fortified settlement, surrounded by thick, large walls of concrete and a private army of militia men.

The View was the most popular hangout at The House and recently its numbers were swelling from the influx of refugees.

May and her staff were working overtime and frantically so. Good times were over, the saloon had turned into a soup kitchen trying to provide food for everyone. She had overheard Brotherhood knights corroborating with militia teams on which would be the safest routes outside to gather food for everyone.

Still, it seemed like everyone was teetering on the edge of hysteria.

May remembered a Super Mutant army had invaded the city some twenty years ago. Her hair was less gray back then. There were also less people in the city but nonetheless they did get some refugees during the invasion. Still, the short Asian woman could understand why everyone was frightened. Although the Brotherhood had good reason, knights in intimidating and impersonal power armor rapidly evacuating people from their homes in the middle of the night was always unnerving.

As if to prove that nerves were at the breaking point, she spotted a fight breaking out between a House guard, a Brotherhood knight and one of the refugees. People were starting to shout and it appeared a massive clamor was about to break out.

Despite being barely above four feet tall, this was where May's colossal personality stood out.

"Hey! Hey, stoppit! Quiet!" May screeched, banging a ladle and a pot together over the fight.

Everyone stared wide eyed at the furious hostess standing on the counter with a ferocious scowl on her face.

"Behave!" May scolded, waving the ladle menacingly.

Incredulously, there was silence.

"There's danger out there and you want to fight each other? You should all be ashamed! Either behave, get in line, and talk quietly or get out of my saloon! I have people to feed so they protect us!" May shouted.

Never before did a short woman armed with only a ladle and a pot seem more fit to lead an army than taking care of a food outlet.

May was about to hop off the counter when a subtle but distinct rumble shuddered through the room. Dishes quietly rattled while drinks moved around in their glasses. Fearing an imminent earthquake or worse, May jumped from the counter and huddled down, pot on her head as a helmet.

Another rumble, this time louder with the tremors growing stronger.

"Are those…footsteps?" someone asked.

Just as everyone was starting to realize what exactly was going on, a strong mechanical voice blared from outside.

"Phlegyas Urban Defense system operating at full power. All weapons are fully stocked and armed. Reaching rendezvous point. Will await orders."

The massive Phlegyas battle walker was a secret defense machine developed as a homeland security deterrent before the Great War. The Phlegyas was constructed in secret under an old New York City arsenal. A Regulator team had unwittingly activated it twenty years ago and it had been patrolling the city ever since, supported and maintained cooperatively by the Regulators and Brotherhood of Steel.

The twenty years of operations was apparent on the machine. While its construction was still sturdy and showed no sign of expiring, it was covered from top to bottom with massive scratches, scorch marks and dents. Standing at about four stories tall, a large, triangular platform supported two gatling lasers, two miniguns and two missile launchers. The Brotherhood had only just recently installed a mini-nuke launcher as well. Supporting all of this firepower were two gargantuan iron legs designed to give the platform unparallel stability and sheer intimidation power.

"Phlegyas defense system ready. All civilians will be protected from all Communist threats. We shall prevail!"

* * *

He was too old for this.

Francis sat at highest point of the _Hammer_ resting in the Hudson River. Next to him was an anti-material rifle set up and ready to go. Francis reflected on the simple fact that he was over 80 years old. 60 of those years had been fighting and in the line of fire. He was already old by wastelander standards 40 years ago.

And here he was sitting on a warship with an anti-material rifle set up and ready to fire.

Sure, he couldn't do much fighting and he would probably get shot down in a stand up gun fire. Still, he would be darn if he did not fire a gun. Besides, he could still snipe and he was certain that no one would mind him sending some 50 caliber warnings down range into the enemy.

In the end, he simply refused to sit back and do nothing.

"Come on, already. When are those pansies over there going to get this show started?" Francis grumbled, staring in the direction of their enemies.

Several feet below him on the bridge, Carl and Poseidon stood quietly, watching the river in front of them for any sign of trouble. The Liberator and ghoul did not say anything to each other for a long while, simply watching in silence. Finally, Poseidon let out an uncomfortable cough.

"Ahem…so…you know that your boss is up there with a big rifle, right?" Poseidon asked.

"Yep." Carl replied.

"Isn't he a bit…old? A bit too many years under his belt to be thinking about fighting?" Poseidon finally asked.

"Yep." Carl agreed.

"…So…don't you want to stop him? Talk him out of it?" Poseidon inquired.

Carl raised an eyebrow at him before answering.

"Poseidon, I don't care how old that man gets, if he wants to do something, you darn well let him do it because he will always be able to kick your butt."

"Even now?" Poseidon asked incredulously.

"You want to find out?" Carl shrugged.

"Hmmm, good point, no I don't." Poseidon answered.

* * *

It was four the next morning. The sun was nowhere near to appearing on the horizon. The moon may have been descending but it was still dark. Albany was quiet while the ships on the Hudson River floated calmly on the water.

On the northern end of Albany, along the ruins that formed the buffer between the open expanse and the city proper, James laid on his stomach, eyes half open as he hovered somewhere in a middle state of consciousness and sleep. His Excelsior rifle was clutched close, the scope was just an instant away from being placed before his eye but he just simply stared into the distance. Adam, Sven and Carl were a floor below him. It was his job to keep an eye out. They elected him for this hour because he was "the morning person."

It was still too darn early in the morning.

James yawned noiselessly. He started to feel his right hand trembling a bit. He was tired while also being on edge. After hours of watching for your enemy, any hint of a movement, real or imagined, still had him scrambling to pull his scope up.

He quietly told himself to get a grip.

**BOOM**

James nearly bolted up on his feet, the colossal noise too real to have been his imagination. Fear started to fill into his bones as he realized that the explosion came from the wrong direction.

It had come from inside the city.

Sven, Carl and Adam came running up the steps, albeit drowsily and still out of sorts.

"What the heck was that?" Adam demanded, eyes still rolling around in his head.

Gathering his bearings, James shouldered his rifle and looked over into Albany.

A gaping, smoking crater had appeared right in the middle of the roadway. People had been clearly jolted. However, there was no immediate indicator as to why the road suddenly decided to self combust. They had destroyed their enemies' artillery so how did-

**BOOM**

James stared in horror when he realized where the explosions were coming from.

"Guys, guys, the bastards have staged an attack on the armada. There's fighting on the _Hammer_. The men on the ships are fighting over it but it looks like the bastards have taken control of one of the main guns. They're hitting Albany from behind us!" James reported, watching the chaos unfolding on the river through his scope.

"We have to stop them!" Carl shouted.

"Alright, organize the men, we have to re-take your ship before they hit anything too important." Adam ordered.

"Uh, we got another problem, guys." Sven announced, pointing out towards the open ground in front of them.

Hierarchy and Western Coalition soldiers were making their way towards Albany.

"Shoot, shoot, when did they learn to organize like that?" James hissed.

"Arggh, alright, the men on the ships are going to have to take care of themselves. We have to stay here and fight them off, do you understand me?" Adam demanded, looking at them.

All of them were torn. None of them liked the idea of a destroyer raining shells on them from behind, especially on their friends and loved ones while they rallied the Regulators and militia in the ruins to repel the incoming attack. Carl especially did not like the idea of his ship being contested.

"Alright, lets go be heroes again." Carl replied grim faced.

"Amen, brother." James replied, sniping off an attacker.

"Get to your positions, I'll keep the men here holding the line, come on, lets do this!" Adam shouted before dashing down to the lower levels.

"Less talk, more fire! This morning calls for explosions with a definite chance of shrapnel! Hahahahaha!" Sven cackled before a missile sung from his launcher.


	38. Chapter 38

**_How many years ago did I take up this duster, only for the call of caps?  
It seems I learn too late that above all must be the right reasons to fight._**

_I never wished to fight, I just wanted a simple life on the river_

_This isn't what I wanted. But I will never regret it_

_Too long we fought them on their terms, bullets, blades and flames_

_Too long we have known war and hate; we must try righteousness, compassion and forgiveness_

Some call me crazy

They're right, and that's what makes me awesome

* * *

"Get up, get up!" Sufia shrieked.

The first thundering round from the hijacked _Hammer's_ gun woke them from their sleep. Dazed and confused, Isaac, Suda, David and Joseph were just getting to their feet when Sufia was already yelling at them to come to their senses. Before any of them could question the older woman on what was happening, the second explosion from the gun drowned them out in noise. Craning their necks up, they could see vicious fighting on the _Hammer_. Their own boat was a good several decks shorter that the destroyer and Regulators had already throw grappling hooks high onto destroyer's top deck. They were desperately climbing the lines so that they could assist in re-taking the destroyer's heavy gun.

"Quickly, you must help the men take back the gun." Sufia told her younger comrades.

"What will you be doing?" Suda demanded.

Their conversation was momentarily interrupted by a loud burst from the gun.

"I have to help fend off the approaching invaders. They're still sending in boats and are desperately trying to take ours." Sufia explained, pointing with her scimitar.

"Are you sure?" Isaac asked over the gunfire.

"I've been fighting on the river and the great ocean since before you could carry a gun. Please, just help the men on the _Hammer_. Do your part, I will do mine." Sufia replied before drawing a scarf over her mouth and nose so that only her eyes could be seen. Without hesitating, she then started to rush off to the side of the ship, prepared to jump onto the nearby boat to join the other battle.

"Sufia!" Suda called out.

Sufia stopped in her tracks and looked back at the younger woman.

Suda looked like she wanted to say something, her mouth moved but in the end she found herself realizing that she did not know what words to say. Instead, she found Sufia approaching her slowly.

"_Asalaam Alaykum, _my daughter." Sufia blessed before once again looking back at all of them.

"Go!" Sufia ordered and in a flash she had jumped off to another ship.

* * *

Poseidon was pissed.

Carl had left him, the second in command, in charge of the ship while Carl went off to help the men on the ground. Somehow, in the early hours of the morning, Hierarchy operatives managed to kill the guards he had posted on the bow. Now, those same operatives were swarming the forward part of the _Hammer_ and were holding it stubbornly. Therefore, by default, they also had control of the _Hammer's_ forward main gun.

The ghoul stood near one of the walkways, his heavy harpoon ready to be used. He and other sailors on the ship had fought the Hierarchy soldiers to a stand still. Their enemy could not gain control of the rest of the ship but they could not win back their main gun.

Poseidon winced as the hijacked gun went off again. Somewhere in the distance, one of the Albany ruins exploded in a hail of smoke and pulverized concrete. It was becoming apparent that while the Regulators had disabled their enemies' artillery, they decided to use the Regulators' own weapons against them.

Poseidon felt a pang of guilt and frustration every time that main gun sounded but he had to concentrate more on winning the ship back. That was the only way to rectify this situation. Unfortunately, it was proving to be vastly easier said than done.

"Watch out!" one of his men warned.

A grenade had landed on the walkway.

Poseidon and the others drew back and hunkered down, avoiding the explosion. Soon after the grenade went off, they heard heavy footsteps rapidly approaching their location. No sooner did their enemy round the corner did the sailors fire back with shotguns. Poseidon impaled the only man who got close enough with his harpoon.

"Poseidon! We have Regulators climbing up onto the rails. Where do you want us to bring them?" a ship mate reported.

"Bring them up here, double quick." Poseidon ordered, glancing around the corner to see what their opponents were up to.

Their counterparts were doing the exact same thing. Grappling hooks proved to be the main means that Hierarchy operatives were getting aboard. Their enemies were frantic. The armies were meeting on land but whoever controlled this ship would win the battle.

"Get them up here, _now_!" Poseidon shouted.

* * *

Alongside the _Hammer_ the Spike Dogs were hurriedly trying to get up the rope that would lead them to the ship's top deck. Either the ship was much taller than it looked or it was much harder to in fact climb a rope.

Suda and Joseph were leading the way on two different ropes. Isaac was behind Suda, David behind Joseph. Nerves were quickly becoming frayed. All along the river vicious ship to ship fighting could be heard as bullets and explosions drowned out the shouts and screams of the combatants.

"Suda, hurry up!" Isaac screamed, not at all pleased with the sounds of bullets zipping past them.

"Shut up, Isaac!" Suda snarled back, painfully aware of how dire their situation was.

"Focus, focus!" Joseph barked at them.

"I swear, I am never leaving dry ground again after this." David grumbled.

"Come on, before someone notices us!" Isaac hollered.

Suda cursed at him in response.

They all heard the telltale sound of a bullet ripping through duster leather.

David felt the bullet zip through the sleeves of his duster. Incredulously, he did not feel pain nor did he notice any red clouds that would suggest the round went through his arm. Unfortunately, no sooner had he realized he was in fact unharmed, he also felt himself jump from the near miss.

David realized he had let go of the rope.

"David!" Isaac screamed.

Their friend fell into the river and disappeared beneath the waves.

"David!" Isaac shouted again, scanning the dark water. He had not been watching the river and only now did he notice sickly torrents of red tracing in the river. Already the waters were starting to become polluted with blood.

"There's nothing we can do, Isaac, we have to keep going." Suda urged.

Isaac snarled. He wanted for all the world to disagree with her but he knew that if they hesitated any longer they would probably share David's fate.

"Come on!" Joseph growled at them before pulling out his tomahawk and holding it in his bare teeth. Armed and angered, Joseph started to practically lunge up the rope.

* * *

All hell broke loose along the northern ruins. Western Coalition and Hierarchy soldiers started erupting from the woods. All of them were desperately rushing to take advantage of even the slightest rise along the ground between the woods and the Albany ruins. Save for a few large rocks or derelict car hulls, there was little cover for the invaders.

Unfortunately, just beyond the base of the northern ruins was a network of trenches from the first battle of Albany where rangers fought with Talon mercs. Every Regulator understood that if they got in there then they would lose their advantage and the enemies would gain some much needed cover.

James and Sven were on the higher floors of the ruins, James firing his Excelsior sniper rifle, Sven carefully working his missile launcher. James had warned the pyromaniac to be disciplined in how often he fired the heavy ordnance. If a smoke trail started to build up they would start signaling to the enemy where exactly to fire. James had no intention of dying on account of smoke build up.

For now the sniper could see that they were maintaining the upper hand. Their enemies were having a hard time advancing which spelled a swift death to any caught without any scrap of cover. The majority of them fell in that category. Unfortunately, James was not at all certain as to how long they would be able to keep the momentum in their favor. The battle had only started and their enemies just kept coming.

James tensed up a bit when a shell from the destroyer sent rubble and concrete showering on them. The round had missed them but it was only a near miss. As he sniped off another enemy out in the open, James quickly thought back at the fire pattern of those shells. Judging that the pattern was erratic, and therefore the hijacked gun team was having trouble aiming, the sniper decided there was little point in trying to move to another position. Getting hit by those shells was a matter of chance at this point. If they got hit, they got hit. It was not a thought he liked to dwell on but there was little he could do about it.

He consoled himself that he might as well try to take as many of the enemy as he could if he was going to get vaporized by a shell.

Sven suddenly seemed to remember his old self and started to cackle. It started off low, something only James could hear. However, with each fired round, with each explosion on the ground before them, Sven's laughter started to grow in both volume and intensity. Pretty soon, his maniacal hysteria could be heard by all over the battlefield.

Their enemies were starting to wonder how many madmen they would have to be facing.

On the ground, Carl, Adam and the Boys held the line. Adam had taken to firing potshots with his infiltrator rifle. Both Carl and Gerald were laying down heavy fire with their gatling laser and minigun. Otto joined in with the other marksmen trying to down important looking combatants and other targets of priority.

Juan was standing near the trenches rather stoically.

"Juan, what are you doing?" Anthony demanded.

"Trust me buddy…" Juan took a moment to lit his cigarette before calmly placing it in his mouth, "You don't want me to doing anything."

Juan motioned towards the now empty trench. If their enemies made it that far then the only thing standing between them and the city would be Juan's flamethrower.

* * *

Suda, Joseph and Isaac stumbled over the railing of the _Hammer_. While they may have wanted to mourn the fact that their friend was suddenly and violently swept away, the frantic scurrying of sailors was forcing them to attend the present situation.

"He had a wife and kid." Isaac panted.

"We can't do anything for him now. Just kill the bastards so you can tell the wife and kid yourself." Suda said quickly.

"…We must hurry." Joseph murmured before leading the way towards the bow.

The group found themselves with the other sailors and marines trying to hold the forward section of the ship. At the moment they could not allow their enemy to make any further progress into the ship. Foremost in everyone's mind was that they would also have to try and re-take the bow. This prospect was much easier said than done. The walkways leading to the bow, while covered, were narrow. Combatants were safe from gunfire while passing through walkways but they were forced to go in one at a time, funneling men into waiting and prepared fire teams.

The fighting to control the _Hammer_ had fallen into a bloody stalemate but with Hierarchy controlling the forward guns Albany was at a severe disadvantage.

Isaac had slung his Excelsior rifle in favor of his Chinese assault rifle. Making sure the rifle was ready, he looked over at the troubled Poseidon.

"Do we have a plan, Poseidon?" Isaac asked.

"I can't toss the men into a killing field now; the vessel would be open for a counter-attack that could cost us the whole ship." Poseidon replied.

"But we can't let them keep control of that forward gun." Isaac argued.

"Right now I don't have any more options, kiddo." Poseidon admitted.

The sound of dripping water suddenly hit their ears.

Turning around, Suda, Joseph and Isaac found themselves staring at a very soaking wet Regulator who loosely clung to a crowbar in his hand.

"…David?" Isaac sputtered.

"Yep." The Regulator grumbled wearily. He was clearly soaked to the bone and bits of seaweed clung to his coat but nonetheless, David was standing right there.

"But…how did you get up here?" Joseph demanded.

"Nearly got carried away by the current but I managed to latch onto the hull with my crowbar here. Also helped me get up the hull faster than that _dreck_ rope. Oh, and I lost my assault rifle. Anyone have a shotgun I could borrow?" David asked.

Everyone was still staring at him, bewildered at his story.

"What? My people crossed the Red Sea and the Jordan and occasionally some of us are accused of walking on water. You think this little stream is going to stop me?" David shrugged.

* * *

Adam, James, Sven and Carl sat in a row inside one of the more sturdy looking ruins. The battle had already been raging for several hours and reality was starting to hit them. While it was clear that this was going to be a prolonged siege the men were suffering from more shattering personal revelations. Other than the fact that they already needed to rest while the younger men continued to fight, they all had their own demons which they noticed over the hours. Adam was feeling extremely out of sorts not using a stealth boy and he was wondering if that had something to do with the headaches he was feeling. Carl was massaging his knee where his bone and flesh ended and his prosthetic began. He was feeling excruciating pain there and he wondered if it was from all the stress from both absorbing the constant recoil of his gun as well as the rigors of battle. James was not sure which was hurting him more, the phantom pain in his left arm or the arthritis that inflamed every joint from his fingers to his arm on his right. Sven meanwhile was coughing more than usual.

While they were jostled a bit by the rounds exploding around them, none of the men talked about their personal revelations. They were now made more aware than ever that they were getting too old for conflicts like these.

"We're losing a lot of good boys out there." Carl muttered.

Sven simply coughed.

"Probably better than getting played with by marauding raiders. Remember when it was only them we had to worry about?" Adam chuckled.

"Probably better to die like this than some kind of sickness I can't fix like cancer in some vital organ." James muttered.

The pip-boy that Sven never could get removed from his arm started to vibrate a bit. Curiously, he rolled his sleeve back to see what the machine was telling him as James continued.

"Sure, explosion or bullet is a violent way to go but it hits you and maybe within a few seconds or a few hours it's over. Some diseases? You'll linger on for a couple weeks, maybe a couple months and then you slowly die." James finished.

No one could see that a red glare was flashing on and off from Sven's pip-boy. The monitor immediately brought Sven's vital signs to his attention. Sven was immediately confronted with a layout of his lungs, both of which were highlighted in red. A single word flashed across the screen.

_CANCER_

"We better get back out there." Adam suggested.

"Good idea, boss." Carl agreed.

"You alright, Sven?" James asked, looking over at his friend.

Sven simply rolled up his sleeve, adjusted his mask and stood to his feet.

"Sure, I could enlighten someone else out there." Sven muttered.

* * *

Within the Albany safehouse, Julia quietly waited out the rounds exploding around them. She had plenty of things to worry about. Sarah, Cindy and Tanya had not made it to the haven of the safehouse. Her husband and friends were defending the northern section of the city while the hijacked _Hammer_ was raining lead on them. She could only guess what her son was doing on the river while Alexandra awaited on the _Half Moon_ to act as an evacuation ship. And what of her daughter Evelyn down in New York City? What was going on down there?

Next to her, she could tell Asimov was slipping into a state of remembering the memories of his past life. Little could be done to interrupt him during these episodes. The motorized brain case appeared to be normal, simply sitting there on his chasis. The only reason she knew he was entering into that state was because she had heard the machine mutter "Claudia" a couple times. She always wondered who Claudia was or if simply the machine mistakenly called her that. Claudia and Julia did have some similarities.

Asimov meanwhile had somehow stumbled onto the memories that unlocked all the answers.

Whatever his name was back then, Asimov was once a soldier for the Pre-War United States and had been assigned to the Alaskan campaign. Fighting in the war, he was often discouraged about the wife and kid he left back at home, where ever home once was. The letters from his wife, Claudia, were putting a strain on his morale. Taxes were putting her to the limit. Their son's health was failing. Money was tight.

The last letter started everything. It was only one line. Their son had died.

It was too much. What was he doing on the front lines when his family had needed him most? It was too much for him to bear. He deserted and tried to find the fastest way back home. Where ever home was. He still could not remember.

He was caught somewhere along the way. Desertion was a serious crime back in the day and the U.S military was not above treating prisoners, both American and Chinese, with sub human standards.

He probably spent a short time incarcerated in Fort Leavenworth before he was summarily sentenced to death. His brain was scooped from his body and placed into this infernal machine.

And now his home was under attack. Again.

Except this time he could do something about it.

"Got to run. Keep an eye on them, Julia!" Asimov suddenly blurted as he promptly wheeled out of the safehouse in a hurry.

Julia did not even have time to even attempt to stop him.

* * *

In the explosives workshop, Cindy was busily trying to stow the more dangerous explosives into the underground cellar in an attempt to minimize damage should the unthinkable happen and a shell score a direct hit on the building. Tanya was sitting stoically, otherwise unable to go anywhere unless anyone else did. Sarah pretended to be more concerned about her experiments but the reality was that she was too scared to go out into the unpredictable rain of cannon fire.

"Is there any place safe out there?" Sarah sputtered, wringing her hands nervously.

"Doubtful." Cindy said quickly, running down the stairs with yet another armful of explosives.

"I don't want to die…but it was good to know freedom." Tanya admitted, oddly enough with a smile on her face.

They looked up in shock when the door suddenly burst open, Asimov roaring onto the scene.

"Cindy, I'm most certain that the one place in Albany known for producing explosives would have some nice shock bombs on hand, wouldn't you?" Asimov demanded.

"Asimov, we can't toss bombs onto the _Hammer_. We'll ruin Carl's ship." Cindy argued.

"The _Hammer_ is just as important as Albany. Don't you have stun bombs, flash bangs of some sort? Come on, Sven had to have gotten bored one day." Asimov retorted.

Cindy furrowed her brows before disappearing into the cellar to reappear with two large devices the size of large duffle bags.

"They're really large stun grenades…built to Sven explosive proportions. But how are we going to get those onto the ship?" Cindy asked.

"Leave that to me!" Asimov exclaimed, wheeling up to grab the bombs with his claws before turning to exit out of the door.

"Wait, you're planning on charging head long into that ship fire? They'll see you and try to target you for sure." Cindy warned.

"I've lived a long time, Cindy and its time that I did something to save my home. If I don't do anything, then we'll all be goners." Asimov replied before gunning his engines and wheeling off.

Asimov was bumbling as fast as his treads would take him, engine roaring at its highest gear. Each claw held the explosives at his sides, ready to be hurled when he was within appropriate range. Asimov no longer felt adrenaline in his systems but he still felt determination.

"Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!" Asimov roared as he rumbled along.

An explosion rocked the ground too close for Asimov's comfort.

When Asimov figuratively re-opened his eyes, he was immediately aware of two problems. The explosion had sent shrapnel which tore through his treads. While his systems were still running and his hull still intact, his legs had been metaphorically shot out from under him. He was effectively immobilized.

More troubling though was the fact that the ship had scored a direct hit on the workshop behind him. The whole building had been reduced to rubble and Asimov could not tell what had happened to the people inside.


	39. Chapter 39

"_Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say 'I have no pleasure in them.'" – _Book of Ecclesiastes 12:1

"_Remember ye implored the assistance of your Lord, and He answered you: 'I will assist you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks.'" _– Qur'an, Surah 8:9

"_What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow. This is the whole Law. All the rest is commentary to the law; go and learn it." _– From the Talmud

* * *

Asimov was not sure which emotion to feel; rage, fear or in a sense, bemusement. In a way he could not deny the irony of the situation. Only a second ago he was running juggernaut and now here he was all fired up and no way to get to his objective. He had now become a sitting duck.

He was also very fearful for Cindy, Sarah and Tanya who had been in the former building. Taking a quick glance, he was not sure how any of them might have survived but hope refused to evaporate away.

Still, he was more concerned with trying to get out of the mire he was in. If he didn't then he would certainly be joining the dead that fell in the last few hours.

"Come on, come on…man, what do I do?" Asimov growled.

And then he felt his brain get blindsided as the hardwired programming kicked in.

_"Alert, mobile tracks disabled. Numerous violation of environmental safety standards detected. Engaging alternate mobilization protocols. Warning, alternate mobilization protocols only have a runtime of thirty minutes." _

"What the deuce was that?" Asimov barked immediately upon regaining control of his faculties.

_THUNK!_

Unbeknownst to Asimov, a small shaped charge had been placed in his chassis system. Now engaged, the shaped charge detonated and immediately projected Asimov's hull and braincase several feet into the air.

Asimov was not at all pleased with this unexpected turn of events.

"Aaaaarrrggghhh! Confound you, Sven! I know this is all your doing! What is the meaning of this idiocy, you blasted pyromaniac!" Asimov shouted as he continued to climb into the sky.

Asimov suddenly felt thrusters engaging. Apparently, not only had Sven and James rigged up an ejection sequence back in the day but they also made sure to give him miniature thrusters so he could make it back to safety. Asimov suddenly understood why he was warned he would only have thirty minutes before the fuel ran out, or so he assumed.

"Alright, back to the mission. Yee ha!" Asimov whooped as he rocketed towards the _Hammer_.

* * *

Sarah coughed and immediately realized her whole body was in pain, from every inch of her skin to the inside of her lungs. She was first surprised to find that she was alive and then quickly deduced that she had, at least for now, survived an explosion.

Unfortunately, she also felt herself crushed to the ground on account of all the rubble lying on top of her.

"Help!" Sarah yelled between coughs.

Her field of view was limited. All she could see was more debris and open sky. She also wondered just how badly she was wounded. At this point, feeling herself becoming more awake, she decided her two options was that she was either going to be alright or she would end up dying a slow, agonizing death.

"Oh thank God, I thought you died too." Cindy breathed, the older woman suddenly near her and frantically digging the rubble off of her.

"Wait, 'died too?'" Sarah demanded, suddenly alarmed.

"Tanya didn't make it. I just found her." Cindy said robotically, too focused on trying to get Sarah free.

"Are you sure she's dead? We have to save her if she's just in critical condition!" Sarah sputtered, devastation creeping into her soul.

"She's dead, Sarah." Cindy asserted bluntly. She didn't have a heart to tell Sarah that not only had Tanya been impaled by a splintered, heavy beam, but the violence of the explosion also broke her neck.

"But…but she was just made free!" Sarah protested, suddenly feeling water coming to her eyes.

"She died a free woman, Sarah. That's more than what most people get these days." Cindy growled, finally wrestling off the heavy chunk of debris from the younger woman.

"I…I have to see her!" Sarah sobbed, still hoping that she could save Tanya.

"No, Sarah!" Cindy shouted, snatching the biologist and dragging her towards the safehouse. Cindy could start to feel the old raider in her starting to come out from all the stress of being in a hostile environment.

"Cindy, don't be so heartless, we have to save-"

Cindy felt a pang of guilt for knocking the adolescent out cold but right now her main concern was getting them both to safety. She barely noticed the abandoned, damaged treads that had belonged to Asimov as she struggled to carry Sarah to safety. Cindy wondered for a moment if their robot friend had also been taken in the blast but now was not the time to mourn that.

When an explosion from yet another shell detonated off into the ruins, Cindy felt herself go livid. She may have been a rehabilitated raider but after all these years the raider in her never completely went away.

Cindy barged into the safehouse with the unconscious Sarah on her shoulders and a very surprised Julia staring at her.

"Cindy, thank God you're alright! What happened? How bad is Sarah hurt? Wasn't Tanya with you two?" Julia shot off, taking Sarah from Cindy and placing the adolescent on a nearby bunk.

"Check for a concussion, other possible injuries, I only had time to pull her from the rubble." Cindy panted, motioning to Sarah while her eyes darted about the room. She was looking for several things.

"What about Tanya? The poor woman is blind, she probably has no idea how to-"

"She's dead, Julia." Cindy snapped, suddenly snatching up a nearby assault rifle that she found.

Julia shook her head regretfully at the news but continued to tend to Sarah.

"I think she'll be alright but I won't know for sure until she wakes up. Cindy, what are you doing?" Julia demanded, finding her friend digging through one of the nearby medicine closets.

Julia never got an answer, only the sight of Cindy inhaling a whole canister of Jet.

"I'm tired of this crap!" Cindy snarled before charging past Julia and out into the streets.

Yet again not fast enough to stop another friend rushing past into danger, Julia felt a bitter mixture of fear and the thought that she was getting too old.

* * *

Otto had taken up a position next to his mentor, James. James had taught Otto everything he needed to know about sniping as well as acting as a Regulator marksman. It was a fine art of concentration as well as awareness of one's surroundings. James did not always have a lot to say but Otto understood his mentor was not very talkative to begin with. James may complain that he was getting old but Otto never ceased to be amazed with how James and the other Liberators operated.

It was the only thing keeping him in place with the shells exploding around them and the bullets flying past. Large scale battles made the typical Regulator hit look like a tavern brawl. Otto, as well as the majority of the Regulator defenders, had never taken part in a large battle against trained soldiers.

Perhaps the only thing keeping the defenders' morale from breaking was that the Liberators were within their midst.

"Keep calm…breathe tranquility, take the shot or move on. Do not hesitate." James murmured to Otto over the noise.

Otto nodded, taking a shaky breath as he tried to remain calm. He was agonizing over a target in his sights. He couldn't line up the shot.

James glanced over when he saw Adam yelling at him.

"James! The ship's gunfire has become more consistent! I think they've lined us up! We need to get out of here now!" Adam warned.

James wasted no time, clutching his Excelsior rifle in his left hand while snatching Otto with his right just as Otto pulled the trigger.

Both men groaned as James dragged the younger man from their position. James groaned from the pain flare up in his arm due to the arthritis. Otto groaned because James had thrown off his shot.

"I missed." Otto grumbled.

"Don't worry about it." James grunted, following after Adam, Carl and Sven.

"But you never miss." Otto replied.

"Don't be me, Otto. Be the best _you_ are suppose to be." James answered.

And then, as Adam predicted, the room behind them exploded.

* * *

It had been some time since Sufia had taken part in shipboard fighting.

She had not missed a single step.

Her scimitar had cut a swath of red from ship to ship. In some cases she was helping Regulators maintain the defense of their own personal boats. As of late, she was taking the fight to the Hierarchy invaders and depriving them from reinforcing their comrades on the _Hammer_. Alongside her were a few other ship based Regulators who had been used to fighting river pirates and other raiders around the Hudson River. They knew exactly what to do when invading and securing another ship.

The Regulators who were used to fighting on land and had been placed into the ships to bolster their numbers did a better job of remaining stationary on deck and providing fire support. Nevertheless, regardless of whether or not they were a Regulator of a Hierarchy infiltrator, all we starting to realize that Sufia was in her element. Perhaps when she started twenty years ago she was an awkward and timid woman.

Now she had become a river queen.

"Keep underneath the fire support of our men, have your shotguns ready. If it so much as twitches shoot it." Sufia ordered to the others around her as she fired her laser pistol.

This was not how she had imagined returning to New York would be like but there was little she could do about it. Order had to be restored then she could get to hear all the stories.

Sufia ducked when she heard a strange explosion rip the air behind her.

Quickly looking behind her, she saw a clear smoke billowing over the railings of the _Hammer's_ bow. She immediately knew that that was no regular explosion that had occurred, there was something different about that smoke. Then, to her surprise, she saw the cylindrical hull of a robobrain rocketing away from the scene of the ship. She was almost certain that she heard it cackling but all of those events in sequence just seemed too bizarre to believe.

"Ma'am, what was that?" one of the Regulators asked in shock.

"I don't know. Keep focused on the danger in front of you." Sufia barked.

* * *

Up on the bridge of the _Hammer_ the Spike Dogs and the other ship marines immediately felt disoriented and a small case of vertigo when the specialized bombs detonated on the deck. As soon as the unpleasant sensations subsided the group glanced at each other as if asking each other what had exactly happened.

"Okay, what was that?" Suda demanded, still shaking her head.

"Not like any explosion I felt before and let me tell you've I've felt quite a few." David replied.

"Wait…stun grenades. We felt terrible and we were that far from the blast. Can you imagine how they must have felt and they were in the actual blast radius." Isaac observed, flicking his head in the direction of the Hierarchy soldiers.

"Now's our time to attack then." Poseidon nodded.

"They won't necessarily be dead though. They'll be incapacitated, we need to move now!" Isaac said urgently.

"Right. Come on, charge!" Posiedon shouted, harpoon pointed aloft.

And with that the soldiers on the _Hammer_ surged forward to meet their enemies.

Up above the _Hammer's_ bridge, Francis laid down on the metal aiming the anti-material rifle. As much as he wanted to fire on the Hierarchy soldiers on the foredeck below him he knew that would expose him to return fire. At his current age and physical state that would most certainly be foolish and he was not about to needlessly toss his life away, nevermind that he probably did not have many years left in him anyway. Instead, Francis used the heavy rifle to watch how the other Regulators were doing as well as providing precision fire where it was needed.

If Hierarchy infiltrators were manning a small craft in the attempt to board another ship, Francis would make sure their boat would sprout a sizeable hole in its hull. If a Hierarchy soldier was laying down heavy fire from cover that the other Regulators could not penetrate, Francis would silence the enemy with a well placed round. The old man knew he had numerous limitations at this point but the heavy rifle more than compensated for him. Besides, it didn't take that much effort to aim and fire.

"Good to see that the years have been kind to that girl…" Francis muttered as he watched Sufia lead the other Regulators to retake the _Hammer_.

Francis squinted when he heard an errant salvo of firing starting to erupt on the ship's port side. Knowing that the gunfire was relatively new to the cacophony he had grown used to, Francis cautiously took a glance over the side of the ship.

He found Cindy firing an assault rifle into the area where the Hierarchy was holed up in, still having not recovered from the massive concussion bomb that Asimov had dropped. Francis frowned when he noticed the furious snarl etched into Cindy's face.

"And that girl just didn't change at all." Francis murmured as he tried to line up another shot.

* * *

In New York City, Enclave virtibird flybys kept a constant watch in New Jersey for any signs of the creature. In the meantime Brotherhood patrols watched the western borders of the city. All of the knights were on high alert. Evelyn felt that she could simply lay back on a pile of rubble and fall asleep within a matter of seconds. It was nasty business. Sleep came in short bursts, adrenaline was the only thing keeping her alert during the day, and she and her squad were becoming more edgy. She wanted nothing more than to get out of her suit and take a shower.

"What I would do to be a virtibird pilot now. They must have it easy being able to fly around and then go back to a warm base." Hardings murmured wistfully.

"They're the enemy." Felson mumbled, half out of his mind with fatigue.

"I said I just wanted to be a pilot, not the Enclave." Hardings snapped back.

"The both of you shut up, I'm trying to concentrate." Birns growled.

"_All_ of you, _shut up_." Evelyn snarled, trying to hide the weariness she too felt.

Part of her felt bad for them, all of them. They were tired and all of them were being pushed to the limit. On one hand there was an enemy out there that they had no training to handle and could easily kill them while remaining nearly invulnerable. On the other hand they were also being pushed to the limits of human capability.

"Sorry, Knight Captain." Birns muttered.

Evelyn sighed before composing herself.

"Guys, just keep this together and we'll get through this. Just please keep it together and then we can rest all we want." Evelyn responded, trying to remain civil and encouraging.

"Understood, Knight Captain." Felson replied, trying to sound a little more alert.

Overhead a pair of Enclave virtibirds roared through the air. The Carbide Tempest glanced up watching them as they roared through the air until they could follow them no more. No sooner had the two crafts left their sight did a transmission go through their radio feeds.

"All units, this is ENCOM. The target has been sighted in New Jersey. We plan on keeping it closely monitored but current information suggests it will be attempting to return to New York City soon. Information feeds will be given shortly. We will need to marshal our forces." The radio declared.

"Do you think the Enclave is going to be helping us at all? We're already brining Phlegyas. I think they should bring out their best weapon too." Hardings said as soon as the transmission cut out.

"All units this is Delta Sierra. We have Agent Epsilon Nu. I repeat, Epsilon Nu is on the field." Delta Sierra announced over the radio.

"There's your answer, Initiate." Evelyn replied with a chuckle.

"What's so special about Epsilon Nu anyway?" Birns asked with a shrug.

"No clue. Guess we'll have to find out." Evelyn answered.

* * *

Sufia had organized the other Regulators around her and had thrown grappling ropes onto the _Hammer's_ bow railings. Never one to lead from behind but in the front, Sufia was one of the first few on the ropes in an attempt to re-take the ship. If they did not take this opportunity to regain control of their armada's crown jewel then there was little chance that they would get another.

Sufia clambered onto the deck only to find a rather anti-climatic sight. The Hierarchy troops, badly disoriented and stunned from the concussion bombs, were in no shape to fight against the Regulator's counter offensive. Sufia spotted Poseidon running a Hierarchy officer through with his harpoon before glaring viciously at the rest of their enemies, daring any others to try and challenge him. The other Regulators and sailors around him were rounding up the rest of their adversaries and holding them captive, their fate to be decided later.

For all the damage that the Hierarchy had caused in hijacking one gun, the fight to reclaim it ended in a whimper.

"I think that's it." Isaac said to Poseidon.

"Good. Sailors, I want this gun back up and running. Swing it hard into the enemy ranks. Give them a taste of their own treatment." Poseidon ordered his men.

They were only too happy to oblige.

Within minutes everyone noticed as the shell no longer were raining on Albany proper but rather falling into the woods beyond the city. Along the ruins, Regulators, raiders and Hierarchy troops alike spotted the change. The Regulators did not even need to re-double their efforts, their enemies simply lost the will to fight as mist evaporates into the morning sun.

As their enemies started to withdraw back into the safety of the woods, those that weren't pinned down, the Liberators were able to breathe a sigh of relief. The four of them hunkered down behind a large concrete wreck, the Liberators took their attention away from the fight. Carl simply plopped his gatling laser onto the soil before doing the same with his own body. Adam, James and Sven glanced at him in bemused shock when, the giant just barely leaning back onto the concrete, started snoring. He had had enough for one day.

"Think that's it, James? I don't think they'll be back for more." Adam said as he watched the last of the soldiers retreat into the trees.

"I don't know. They might try to wait it out for a bit, regroup, try to come up with another plan. We'll have to keep a close eye on them for as long as they're in the area." James replied.

"I have no problem with them waiting, they just may have a problem with my plan on keeping busy in the meantime." Sven snickered before he sent a missile screaming in the direction of the woods.

Carl remained asleep through the noise.


	40. Chapter 40

"_Oh humankind, born for the upward flight, why are you driven back by wind so slight?"_

Dante's Inferno, Purgatory, Canto XII

* * *

Death has worn many faces and metaphors throughout the years. Sometimes he is the dark lord of a hopeless underworld, an otherworldly king whose subjects are miserable indeed. Sometimes he is the angel either cursed with a thankless task or the bearer of everyone's final appointment. Sometimes he is a reaper grim whose crop occasionally comes in small, sometimes it comes in droves. Death had been vilified and respected, beautified and demonized, shunned and embraced. The list of names Death has carried is as long as the years that hangs on the weary world. None of it matters, only that his work continues and he shows no sign of tiring of his office.

Death's dark specter cast a long shadow over Albany. His grin hung unmoving as his void eye sockets, lifeless as the bleached white bones that were his fingers. Much work had already been done. However, there was still more to do, but only at the proper time. The grains of his ghastly hourglass were running out. There was not much time left. Much, indeed, had already been done but what would come after would promise to be a bounty of the harvest done under a harvest moon.

The gunfire may have ceased and the defenders were letting a sense of relief blanket them but nonetheless there was no getting around one glaring fact. Albany was a mess. Asimov felt like he painfully empathized with this state of affairs since they had not found any replacement treads for him. In the meantime he made due with a jerry rigged thruster system. While the original emergency thrusters were designed to only be an escape mechanism, and a temporary one at that, he did not really have that much choice anymore. In the meantime a mess of wires and several fission batteries hung awkwardly under his frame as he floated about, a sight he was rather sensitive about. He even barked at Whiskers who spent one second too long staring at the mess. The rat eventually came around to following the floating robot but Asimov refused to apologize for his outburst. Besides, there was still so much that had to be fixed and the enemy army had not even withdrawn yet.

There was much to be buried, many to be mourned.

To the south west of Albany, just outside the border of its ruins, and area had become the new graveyard for the Albany population. So many of the dead at once demanded rapid action and that particular patch of ground had so far gone unused and was out of the way. The dead were laid to rest respectfully but quickly.

One large cross marked a mass grave where the unidentified and missing were laid or otherwise memorialized. A list of names commemorated those that they suspected to be among the unidentified but for now they could not be sure. Most of them were Regulators though there were a few civilians among the lost.

Sitting on a rock overlooking the countless gravestones and crosses was Sarah, shoulders slouched low in reflection of both her physical and emotional exhaustion. Her eyes were red and puffy and no more water could be offered up from them to allow her the comfort of tears. She felt bad enough that Tanya, who had essentially been put into her care, was killed in the explosion. Worst still was when she found out later that another round had claimed her mother. Not to mention the list of others she had grown up with in the vault, both civilians and the security guards who joined the Regulator forces.

Too much had been taken from her in only an instant, her father, the overseer, was too distraught to be out in public.

She was vaguely aware that Isaac was standing not too far off, also regarding the gravestones. Under normal circumstances she'd be scrambling for any opportunity to talk to him but right now she was not even sure how she was going to make it back home. She also did not like how the sun was going down.

"I heard you got knocked flat in the explosion, you're lucky to be alive." Isaac suddenly spoke to her, walking closer to be within comfortable talking distance.

Sarah only nodded sullenly.

"I'm sorry for whomever you may have lost. I know more fighting won't bring them back…but I hope one day you'll find peace for the losses here." Isaac added, sincerity on his voice.

"I'm…sorry about Tanya…I know you're the one who brought her here." Sarah croaked, realizing her voice was also weak.

"Don't feel responsible about it. I'm sorry she died too…but at least she died free." Isaac shrugged.

"Everyone keeps saying that, I don't see how that makes it better." Sarah murmured.

"You were blessed to live in a vault…different world out here, unfortunately." Isaac sighed.

"Did you lose someone close to you?" Sarah asked after a moment of silence.

"Not in the battle but I did come home to find that my brother was murdered and my childhood pet died. I'm sad about, but at least they're in a better place." Isaac shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Sarah said softly.

"Don't worry about it. Now, I should probably walk you back home, can't be too safe out here at night." Isaac cautioned.

Sarah silently consented by getting off the rock and following Isaac back.

The walk back was also quiet but nonetheless Isaac walked Sarah back to the safehouse which was becoming the cramped but highly sought after shelter for all those who had lost their homes in the destruction. Sarah was anxious for when they finally rebuilt the workshop and therefore, her laboratory space.

"Hey, sorry again about your loss. This probably doesn't mean much but you look like you need it." Isaac offered, giving the younger woman a quick hug before bumbling off.

The whole thing happened too quick for Sarah to register what had happened. By the time it hit her she wasn't sure if she felt slightly elated or mildly disappointed. Realizing she had too much on her mind she decided to retire for the night.

Unbeknownst to either of them, James and Julia had been watching from a distance. James' mechanical prosthetic nervously scratching the back of his neck, he nonetheless kept a brow raised.

"That…looked awkward." James muttered.

"Pfft, you weren't much better back in the day when you first started talking to me." Julia snorted before walking past her husband.

"…Hey!" James protested before trying to catch up with her.

* * *

On the Hudson River the armada of ships was still trying to recompose themselves in the unseasonal chill that had descended on the area. Other than the obvious bullet holes that had perforated a number of ship hulls there had also been numerous dents and other deformations caused by collisions in the chaos. Carl was still trying to re-assure a sullen Poseidon that he did not blame his second in command for the tragedy that occurred and that the whole incident could have happened regardless of who was in charge. The ghoul was only slowly becoming convinced of the whole matter.

Gaining a larger audience was the whole matter of what to do with the Hierarchy prisoners they captured when retaking the _Hammer_.

A large portion of Albany residents and Regulators had gathered at the dock where the prisoners sat awaiting the decision on their fate. Among the Regulators gathered were the Spike Dogs. Suda still was unsure with what to do with herself and she had found out that Sufia was not going anywhere else anytime soon. David and Joseph, still in disbelief with Isaac for keeping his heritage a secret, wanted to see how the Liberators would handle this situation. Isaac was curious himself.

Anyone expecting pomp or long speeches would be severely disappointed.

Francis was too tired to get up and speak so he deferred the judgment to the Liberators. The captured Hierarchy men kept glancing apprehensively in Sven's direction, the pyromaniac casually standing near them with his incinerator warmed up. Every now and then they could hear a gasping chuckle come from his breathing mask.

It was unnerving.

It also didn't help that they found out the captain of the ship they hijacked was a mountain of a man who had a rather stern frown. As if to top it all off they spotted the group leader, who made a point to always have his longsword out, was having a hushed discussion with the sniper. Neither appeared to be very sympathetic to the situation.

Most of them had resigned themselves to the fact that they were going to die, it was just a matter of hoping they wouldn't suffer _too_ much.

Adam and James seemed to be taking awhile with that decision.

And suddenly it was over. Adam left his place from James' side and held the longsword aloft. Everyone held their breaths, expecting the dock to be painted a gruesome red within seconds. Adam was nearly upon the closest prisoner when he suddenly drove the point of the sword into the dock.

"Get in the boat." Adam ordered deftly.

Surprised, the Hierarchy soldiers glanced up at him.

Carl stepped to the side to reveal that a sizeable boat had been emptied. It had sustained a few dents and had seen better days but it was definitely seaworthy. Upon further inspection however, the prisoners also noticed ominous packages within the boat.

"You'll probably notice some C4 charges within the boat." Adam started.

"You will load up into the water and you will bring the boat back to your lines. The moment you leave the boat, you will have 15 seconds to evacuate the area before our pyromaniac hits the detonator." Adam explained while a small cackle came Sven's mask.

"Any funny business, any slight diverting to the wrong direction and he blows you up, right then and there…I don't need to tell you that he lives for explosions." Adam murmured.

This time, Sven laughed harder.

The prisoners boarded into the boat and set off with a single minded determination.

As soon as they were out of earshot Adam returned his sword to its sheath and walked past the still watching James. While there may not have been a disagreement between the two, Adam still had something to get off his chest.

"That was more mercy than they showed our men on the road." Adam murmured.

"Trust me; I wanted to snap their necks too. But that's why we cannot be like them." James replied, pulling his scarf closer around his neck to ward off the cold.

"I don't know how you do it, James." Adam shook his head before walking off.

"…Neither do I." James muttered.

* * *

As part of the Brotherhood's elite squads, Evelyn and the Carbide Tempest were called back to their headquarters at the old New York docks. From Evelyn had heard, officials from the Enclave had arrived and they were currently plotting how to take care of their monster problem. It quickly became apparent however that both Enclave and Brotherhood leaders were a bit put off by the infiltration agents Delta Sierra and Epsilon Nu. Both agents were in their modified stealth suits and both kept their shielded visors on. No one could get a glimpse as to what either looked like.

That and also Epsilon Nu was being very quiet.

"Vertibird flybys have shown that the creature cannot be found. The ruins of New Jersey are bare. We cannot find any human activity down there and we cannot be sure of how many people may have fled." One of the cleanly dressed Enclave commanders reported.

"How can that thing simply disappear?" One of the younger Brotherhood Paladins demanded skeptically.

"It went underground. It always does." Elder Hail muttered distracted, recalling the horrible day that the _Defiance_ was sunk at its dock.

"So what, we wait for it to show up again? Why can't our Enclave allies pound that thing with mini-nuke drops from the verti-birds?" Paladin Rufus offered.

"Rufus, if I remember correctly, you're young enough to remember the first one of these monsters we faced. Simply dropping bombs one at a time will not kill it. Sure, it'll pick at it and harass it but then it will go underground again to recover. We need to kill it with overwhelming firepower, something that dropping mini-nukes just won't do, not with the amount of verti-birds we have." Delta Sierra explained.

"You know…it might just go away…" one of the Brotherhood scribes offered.

"…No…no it won't." Epsilon Nu finally said. Her voice was low, quiet and tomb cold.

"Excuse me?" Elder Hail demanded.

"That creature's intentions are to destroy New York City. It will not stop." Epsilon Nu replied, voice still chilly with brooding hostility.

"How do you know this?" Rufus inquired.

"The same way I know you have no trust for my masters, the same way I know my masters feel themselves as your superiors, the same way your emotions are as clear a day to me." Epsilon Nu answered simply.

Enclave and Brotherhood leaders all shuffled into an awkward silence.

"Agent Epsilon Nu, you are dismissed." Delta Sierra ordered quickly.

Evelyn watched in disturbed curiosity as Epsilon Nu stalked out of the room, an air of arrogance about her. Clearly, there was something special, altered, about the woman. Still, there was little she could do to get answers on just how special the agent was, at least for now.

"We do not have enough intelligence to make any solid plans. However, we do know it will come back. Do not grow complacent." Delta Sierra warned before stepping out of the room himself.

* * *

A strange peace fell on Albany despite everyone knowing in the back of their minds that an army was laying in wait to their north. While sentries from both Regulators and Nation hunters maintained a constant vigil along the defenses, people were allowing themselves to fall back to the way things were in peace time. While everyone kept a mental plan on how to quickly dive back to the safehouse, and many still were in mourning for fallen loved ones, a sense of normalcy had fallen on the town. Even the rats returned from their hiding places and were scampering about town on their unknown errands.

Accompanied by the ever curious Whiskers, Asimov returned to repairs while he got used to his new thrusters. Just awhile ago the robobrain had deemed that the arms factory was sufficiently ready to run without his supervision. Now, he had a much bigger project ahead of him.

Rebuild Sven's bomb workshop.

"So what are the rules here, Sven?" Asimov asked as he floated in place, claws open with eagerness to begin.

"Simple, no stray sparks, no remote detonators, no walking into the debris and don't drop anything into it." Sven shrugged.

"Gotcha. Wait a minute, no walking into it?" Asimov asked for clarification, whipping around to glance back at Sven who was walking towards the tavern.

"Yep. Land mines in there. They're strictly for the enemy. No unauthorized sky tossing." Sven warned.

"Wait a minute, seeing as I am the only one floating around here, are you saying that I, and only I, am going to be able to clear the rubble here?" Asimov demanded.

Sven looked to his right, his left, did a full turn around and, finding no other floating people, simply nodded at Asimov.

"You're a piece of work, Sven." Asimov grumbled before setting off on his project.

He had barely noticed that Whiskers had scampered off awhile back.

Truth be told the rat had been attracted to the sound of a distressed squeak of one of its fellow rats. There was also some growling mixed in the scuffle. Fortunately, Whiskers found the wounded rat, and a rather irate Furious, in the Vanderbraun house under a very stern looking Julia.

"So tell me, did you continue to pester him after he distinctly warned you not to get too close when he curled up into a ball?" Julia scolded the forlorn black rat.

The same rat had three of Furious' barbed quills lodged in his snout.

"Well?" Julia inquired softly, gingerly working with her tweezers.

The chastised rat let out a grumbling whimper.

"And you, you don't think this is a slight over-reaction? He was probably just curious." Julia turned her lecturing to a still peeved Furious.

"Bark!' Furious snapped back.

"Just because you have all those prickles doesn't mean you need to be prickly yourself. I will not have this attitude from you." Julia chastised with a pointed finger.

Furious could only come back with further sliding into his coat of spines and letting out a low, grumbling grunt.

"Honestly, I don't think I've ever had to do something like this with my boys. Either you all get along or you can pull out your own quills…and _you_ will find yourself without friends." Julia lectured both rat and spike dog respectively.

"Off you go, both of you, I won't have either of you here if you're both going to be difficult." Julia added, knowing deep inside that at this point she was being dramatic, as she pulled out the last quill from the rat.

Both rat and spike dog shuffled out of the house a little wiser as Julia put away her tools. Cleaning the small mess that was left, she got up and walked over to James who was busily taking care of his rifle by the door.

"My goodness, my son comes home with that feisty pet of his in tow. He never did that when he was younger so now he's playing catch up with it now that he's twenty." Julia muttered.

James cast a wry smile at her. "You know that you're really happy he's home."

"Yes, now if only 'home' wasn't blowing up." Julia sighed.

James quickly reassembled his rifle and snapped a clip into the chamber before switching to the coach and beckoned Julia to sit next to him. The former scribe hesitated a moment before plopping down next to him and leaning against his chest, learning a long time ago not to do so against his metallic prosthetic arm.

"You're tired." James observed simply.

"I know, and it's terrible that Sarah lost her mother on top of everything else." Julia murmured.

"That's the same girl we saw with Isaac the other night, right?" James asked.

"Yep." Julia replied.

"Ah…" James murmured right before an awkward silence set in.

"Speaking of which, have you noticed Sven talking with Cindy a lot more? I mean I know those two were close friends but it seems like they've been talking a lot more lately." Julia mentioned.

"I think so. Sometimes I wonder why those two never got married. Then I remember that they're both a little…different and maybe being close friends is good enough for them." James shrugged.

"I suppose…if they got married the marriage would never be on the rocks…it would blow up. Literally." Julia chuckled.

"Heaven save us all…" James murmured.

"James!" Adam's shout came from their doorway.

"Wha- what is it, Adam?" James blurted, completely caught off guard.

"Get out here, on the docks, now! You're not going to believe this." Adam reported.

* * *

Everything had been going normally at the docks. Sufia, her daughter and the Spike Dogs were lounging by the docks. Suda was there because she was learning that her mother never seemed to stray far from the ships. David was there mostly because he was debating about when exactly he would take the chance to catch a ship heading south to New York City.

"Don't tell me you were always a river person." Suda suddenly said to Sufia.

Sufia laughed. "No, I always thought of myself as timid. The Liberators found me and my brother a long time ago some ways south of here. We were just normal people back then. Somewhere along the way I became a Regulator, Francis ordered me as one of the first ship bound Regulators to keep the Hudson River clear of pirates. The rest is history." Sufia smiled proudly with a shrug.

"Man, whenever mom and dad talk about back then they always make it sound very chaotic." Isaac said.

"If the elders are to be believed, the stories are true." Joseph muttered, idly sharpening his tomahawk.

"It was very chaotic. I could barely believe that this was Albany when we came across it. That was also when we found you, you know?" Sufia chuckled, taping Isaac with her boot.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard." Isaac replied.

No one had noticed it when a ship coming up river docked at a nearby pier. However, everyone was very aware of it when a feminine voice shouted.

"David!"

On the other dock David looked up to see a woman with light blonde hair carrying a bag over her shoulder and a toddling child clutched close to her. The others were not sure what to make the scene up until David had quite nearly zipped out of their midst and was already barreling his way towards the woman.

"Rachel!" David cried in happy shock.

"I don't think I've ever seen him move that fast." Isaac chuckled.

"Considering I've always been up front the whole journey, I _know_ he has never moved that fast." Joseph muttered.

Before David could meet his wife, she set their daughter on the ground with a sly grin. David stopped dead in his tracks, quite nearly stumbling over from all the momentum. He momentarily cursed himself missing this the first time but was nonetheless caught up in the moment as he knelt down and spread his arms, encouraging his daughter to come to him.

"I'm not as old as say, Francis, but I've been around for awhile and unlike most people, I can also say I've been on two continents. That just never gets old." Sufia chuckled as she watched.

"Oh look at you! This isn't the first time I've gone and kvell over you but I'm going to be doing so for a long time!" David laughed as he swooped his daughter up from her awkward trek and held her close, just in time for Rachel to also join in.

"That's nice, but I really hope her arrival doesn't mean that bad things are happening down in New York City." Joseph said quietly.

"Shoot…we'll find out if we get refugees streaming up river." Isaac muttered, suddenly very afraid for his sister.

Any further conversation was cut off they heard shouting coming from the ships. Glancing over, Isaac, Joseph, Sufia and Suda noticed Carl shouting towards Adam on the _Half Moon. _No one could hear exactly what the imposing river captain was saying but within a couple moments they then watched Adam bound down the _Half Moon_ and took off at full speed down into Albany.

"That was curious." Isaac observed.

"And that's why." Sufia suddenly pointed out an odd sight.

Landing on shore in a small boat with a forlorn white cloth on a stick, a very important raider stepped onto the shore and into Albany. The warlord was accompanied by two other subordinates, all of them looking very distinguished. Isaac would find out later that the most important looking one was in fact Warlord Yeohart, leader of the Western Coalition raiders.

A very awkward atmosphere erupted at the Albany docks. Of all the events anyone could have expected to have happened that day, this was one of the most unforeseen. Even the very execution of the matter was unexpected. Anyone would have guessed that the warlord would have come in something more striking than a dingy little boat with only two simple, if capable looking, bodyguards.

Carl's constant bellows that all the Regulators lower their firearms was the only thing keeping the situation from becoming deadly. Adam, James and Sven's prompt arrival also made sure to continue to diffuse the situation.

"Warlord Yeohart, I would not have guessed you would be showing up." Adam announced as he marched up to the raider leader, James and Sven in tow. Carl was standing opposite to them on the other side of the warlord.

"This was considered the only wise decision. Besides, the Hierarchy dogs are still having trouble swallowing their pride." Yeohart chuckled roughly.

"That looks new, Yeohart. Should I apologize if it was one of our boys who did that?" Adam asked, pointing to the fact that the warlord now sported a black eye patch on one of his eyes.

"Haha, yes, shrapnel fragment graze my eye. If anything I should probably be thanking you. I'm told I look more menacing than ever now." Yeohart laughed.

James was uncomfortably surprised with the banter Adam and Yeohart were trading.

"Not to rain on anyone's parade, but are you here to talk about surrendering or stuff?" Carl asked frankly.

"No, I am not here to talk about surrendering. I'm here to announce that my raiders will be quitting the field. Even as we speak my men are packing camp." Yeohart shrugged simply.

"What about the Hierarchy? Are they still going to insist on sitting out there?" James demanded.

"I can't speak for them. They might, but I doubt that." Yeohart replied.

"Why?" James asked with a raised brow.

"Because of what I'm about to tell you. The plague has broke out on the men. That's also what I wanted to tell you. You will have to be careful now, more than ever. The plague is now upstream, make sure bodies or blood doesn't get into the river or find a different water source. You're also going to have to consider…taking care of whatever mess is left behind. I'm sorry. The Hierarchy are fools and they are bigger fools if they insist on staying. You have defended your city adeptly. I congratulate you, but now I must warn you that there are more dangers. Tread carefully, Liberators." Yeohart said with a bow before returning back to his boat.

The Liberators could say nothing more as the warlord gave the order as his men started to row upstream.

* * *

There was not much to explain afterwards. The orders went out as Regulators were assembled. First, scouts were sent up the Hudson in fast riverboats to see if the forward camp had been deserted. When the river men reported that they had seen no one, and more importantly had not been shot at, the next step was implemented. It would take a few days for Lab 18 to send specialists to help take care of the biohazard, days that Albany did not have. Regulator volunteers were given special breathing equipment while a quarantine zone was set just outside of Albany. Shortly thereafter the eerie sight of masked Regulators with darkened goggles and wearing protective jumpsuits under their olive dusters were slowly advancing towards the abandoned camp of their enemies. Each of them was armed with a flamethrower. Their orders were simple: burn everything.

The Liberators chose to sit this operation out, simply overseeing the operations. No one seemed to object and Francis was taking the time to conduct business with the Nation's people, including explaining to the elders why it was not exactly safe to travel north yet to the area they called home. On a minor note, a minority faction of the hunters had followed their formerly radical compatriot, Joseph, and was asking how they might set up their own Regulator group.

Carl and Poseidon kept a vigilant eye to the north, making sure that bodies or the red hue of blood would not stain the waters. James and Julia monitored the quarantine camp where the Regulators who ventured out into the infected zone were granted shelter before they would be allowed back into Albany. Unexpectedly, Sven did not join the others out into the burning fields, instead opting to make sure they had adequate fuel as he and Cindy spent time together.

Most tellingly, Adam spent his time on the _Half Moon_, his duster hung up and unused.

Regulators who ventured into the Burning Fields, as they soon became known, told rather horrific stories. Between the sound of the breathing in their ears because of their protective masks, they were constantly surrounded by the sound of burning fire. The ground was stained black and red from the countless bodies that had bled out. The victims of the plague was the worst part; the Regulators found them abandoned and dead, or at least they assumed they were dead. The ground was littered with countless bodies of their former enemies, all of them bloodied with open bleeding sores. The air was rank with the smell of rotting corpses and festering wounds. Vultures refused to descend upon the bodies and the maggots and flies that did try to feast upon the carcasses soon joined them in death as well. This nightmarish scene, combined with the noise of roaring, hissing fire and the smell of decay, burning flesh and fuel was unsettling to many who volunteered for the job. Many of them refused to continue the work after two or more trips.

The fires being used to purge the blackened, red scar just outside of Albany had only been going for a day when a vertibird landed just as the sun was setting.

Adam had just settled down for the night with Alexandra when they heard a knock on the door of their ship. Not expecting anyone, Alexandra curiously opened the ship door and was surprised to find Sven standing there, completely geared up, his duel launcher, incinerator and explosives pack to boot.

"Boss, we kinda have a visitor. They say they need help." Sven spoke through his breathing mask.

"What kind of visitor? What kind of help?" Adam inquired.

"It's that old Enclave agent, what's his face? Delta something? Anyway, you remember that old monster we nuked all those years ago? It's back. Enclave and Brotherhood are having a hard time frying it. Amateurs. Anyway, they need our help. Again." Sven explained, sounding apologetic.

Adam initially did not budge.

"No." Adam finally replied.

"My breathing is bad and now my ears may be going too. Did I hear you right, boss?" Sven asked.

"I promised Alexandra that that big fight we had out there would be my last. I'm keeping my promise. I'm done." Adam sighed, finding it rather hard to do, even if he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Adam?" Alexandra asked.

"I promised. I'm keeping it." Adam asserted.

"Boss, I want to respect your decision, but you do know we barely managed last time. I don't think those Enclave and Brotherhood people know what they're doing. Are you sure about this?" Sven asked.

Before Adam could respond, Alexandra was at his side.

"Adam…just one more time." Alexandra said softly.

"What?" Adam demanded.

"One last time. Put on your duster one last time. You know this is the right thing to do, and only you boys can do it. One last time." Alexandra consented though she felt her eyes going moist.

Adam stared at her for a moment before kissing her and then rushing to get his equipment.

Outside in the square, Carl, James, Cindy, Julia and Sufia stood closest to Delta Sierra and the vertibird as they waited for Sven to return with Adam. Delta Sierra had already explained the situation. However, James was staring hard at Delta Sierra's assistant, the one he referred to as Agent Epsilon Nu. The woman had finally taken off her helmet, showing herself to have raven black hair with hard eyes that flashed with hostility.

James could have sworn she looked familiar.

"Why do you stare at me?" Epsilon Nu demanded.

"I'm certain I've seen you before." James muttered.

"A long time ago, you all did." Delta Sierra replied.

"How?" Julia asked.

"Epsilon Nu is the genetic copy of the girl you called Evelyn, except fully grown and with all the combat and mental training of the Enclave. She's not the same girl you saved of course, just a clone." Delta Sierra explained.

And it was that moment that Adam arrived with Sven in tow.

"Ready? The first city you saved will not wait for long." Delta Sierra demanded.

"I'm ready." Adam nodded.

"We're going to need another big explosion…I live for this." Sven chuckled.

"Return home, James." Julia whispered into his ear as she held him from behind. Oddly enough, she felt his prosthetic squeeze her hand.

"This time, you won't need to operate." James replied.

Shortly thereafter, Athena had her vertibird thundering back to New York City as fast as her wings would take her.


	41. Chapter 41

"_St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,_

_Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil._

_May God rebuke him, we humbly pray…"_

Prayer of St. Michael

* * *

In the ruins of the St. Patrick Cathedral, the few of the pious prayed for divine intervention. The news of the coming danger had managed to trickle to the rest of the New York City communities. The stained glass windows had long since been destroyed. Nonetheless, the engraved carvings of the saints and angels still endured on the well worn walls. The saints depicted the examples of men and women of faith who not only believed in true good but also led courageous lives to exemplify it. The engraved angels acted as reminders and wardens against the ever present dangers of evil and disaster.

And tonight, a handful of those who believed God still watched over them sought Him to intervene once again. Perhaps it had been man who was in fact his own greatest enemy and maybe it was only by the compassion of God that they had not in fact completely destroyed themselves.

Or maybe it was simply faith that kept them going.

Nonetheless, tonight legions of angels and demons gathered once more to do battle. The demons always appeared to be ever relentless and some of the angels looked like they had seen better days, a beleaguered few who continued to stand long after everything within them cried to simply lay down and die.

And still they refused to lay down their arms. Yet again they decide to stretch their frayed wings and take flight. Once more they plunge into the fight. Some do it out of reckless and spiteful abandon, others because they refuse to do no less while they still draw breath. Others do it for the simple joy of doing good.

And some do it simply because they're too crazy to know better, short of the fact that it simply makes them happy.

* * *

"Okay, so what's going on here? What is so darn important that you had to drag us back down to the city?" Adam demanded over the roar of the rotors as they screamed down towards the city.

"Simple. Do you remember that creature of blood, flesh and gore you managed to incinerate 20 years ago?" Delta Sierra inquired.

"Hey, we blew that up. Very hard. When I blow something up, it doesn't come back. Unless its falling back to the ground. In which case it's still dead. From the awesome." Sven explained.

"Of course you blew it up. This isn't the original creature, it's just another one." Delta Sierra retorted.

"Okay, where do these things keep coming from because we cannot repeat this every two decades." James replied.

"There was an experimental vault project out east that was tasked with developing a 'superior organism.' Once it had built up enough specimens it would release them and keep track of their progress. Twenty years ago, the creature you fought came about from a freak mutation of the FEV virus. The vault detected that change. It spent the last twenty years trying to replicate that strain since that fulfilled its programming." Delta Sierra explained.

"So you mean to tell me that after this we're going to have to walk east and shut this vault down too?" James demanded, starting to become annoyed with the idea.

"Don't worry about that. The vault is very much disabled. You just need to help us kill the monster now." Delta Sierra grinned.

"Oh yay, glad you left us the easy part." Adam muttered sarcastically.

* * *

Even after two hundred years since the atomic fires washed the world into chaos and scattered the lives of people, small pockets of culture from the world that was still remained. Even within the descendents of the Atlantic Fleet who made up the New England Enclave, there were small societies that harkened back to the world that once was. One of these groups was a squad of their power armor troopers stationed within the long abandoned and eerie ruins of New Jersey.

They called themselves "Shamrock Squad."

"Oy, captain, any words from the higher ups 'bout what we be looking for?" one of the troopers asked with a thick Irish accent.

"Calm down, lad. Just be keeping yer eyes open and yer mouth shut." The captain reprimanded.

"Personally, I don't know how we could be missing it. T'was a big ol'ghoulie according to the pictures." The sergeant shrugged.

"Oy, what did I just say? I said keep yer eyes open and yer mouths shut. More watching, less talking." The captain snapped.

"Aye, captain." The others replied in compliance.

"Uh…captain…" a private sputtered.

"Heaven alive lad, do I have to demonstrate 'quiet' to ye as well as say it?" the captain screeched.

"I got a bogie in my sights." The private replied, pointing down range.

Sure enough, appearing just above the rise was one of the side mawed, mutated centaurs, it's malevolent gaze falling upon them. Slobber was falling from the many rows of its razor sharp teeth. Even more terrifying was the sight to followed behind it. More centaurs were coming in its wake and upon the ground they walked was a pink layer of mucus.

"I say it's coming, captain." The sergeant announced.

"Alright lads, this is what we've been waiting for. Shamrock squad, fall back. Fire into the bastards and cover our retreat. Remember, we're falling back through the tunnel. Look alive, lads!" the captain ordered.

"Captain, which tunnel is this? We need to radio the guys up top!" the sergeant reminded.

"I got that, just focus on firing! ENCOM, this is Shamrock squad, we have made contact with the enemy, I repeat, we have made contact! We are falling back to the Lincoln Tunnel. Have all forces converge on the Lincoln Tunnel!" the captain shouted into his radio.

The centaurs found themselves marching into a relentless rain of laser and plasma fire as their prey insisted on running from them.

* * *

"This is Athena, ENCOM vertirbird pilot, we are approaching New York City. Advising all ground units not to fire. We have the Liberators aboard." Athena transmitted as the aircraft made its way above the city.

Below them, the empty and dark hulls of buildings passed by as the vertibird's wings cut into the evening skies. Long ago there would have been an endless sea of lights flickering from the buildings, cars and lampposts underneath. Now, the best anyone could hope for were scattered fire or the isolated groupings of jerry rigged lights that signaled where tiny enclaves of humanity remained.

One area in particular seemed to be bustling with activity from both the fires, lights and tiny figures moving about in the shadows.

"So what's the situation?" James asked as they felt Athena begin to decelerate and allow the aircraft to descend.

"This only recently came in. One of our elite units just caught the attention of the creature over in New Jersey. They are currently passing through the Lincoln Tunnel. Brotherhood Knights and our Power Armor troops have been dispatched to the area. As we speak, they have been rigging up the whole tunnel with strategically placed explosives." Delta Sierra explained.

The Lincoln Tunnel was once a major route leading into New York City. The tunnel itself passed below the Hudson River and over onto the west side of the City. While still functional, it was amazing that the tunnel itself had not been destroyed over the 200 years of disrepair that it suffered.

"So you're planning on entombing the whole thing under the river?" Adam asked.

"No. That tunnel is packed full with vehicles and their fusion reactors. The whole tunnel must explode. We'll have to use specialized timed explosives because if we don't seal the ends of the tunnel before the main detonation, well, there's no telling where or how far the blast will go if we do not contain it first." Delta Sierra shrugged.

"You know…I think I'm beginning to like you." Sven announced.

"Oh boy…" James sighed.

Athena landed the aircraft just outside the mouth of the New York side of the tunnel. All around them, Brotherhood of Steel Knights, Enclave and even a handful of the duster clad Regulators could be seen. It was amazing how much a common enemy could unite otherwise competing factions.

Stepping off the aircraft, the Liberators also noticed more armed men that did not seem to belong to the Regulators and they certainly weren't Brotherhood or Enclave since they did not have armor or uniforms.

"Who are these people?" Adam asked, noticing the men who did not carry the colors of the more obvious factions.

"Mercs, militia, concerned citizens, who knows?" Delta Sierra shrugged.

"Excuse me, you're the Liberators, right?" the leader of a group of three men asked, stepping up to the Regulators.

"Yeah, that would be us." James nodded as Sven's incinerator belched a puff of noxious, black smoke.

"You probably heard this several times before, but thank you." The center leader said with a small bow.

The group of militia, at least that's what the Liberators thought of them for the moment, seemed to be a scruffy bunch. They did not have any armor but their assault rifles seemed to at least be in functional condition. Still, that did not give them a lot to go on.

"For what?" James asked curiously.

"We're descendents of the people from The Wall. Our parents told us about you. We've never known a day of captivity thanks to you." The spokesman explained.

The Liberators were not quite sure what to say, simply looking among themselves first before shrugging.

"We heard that there was going to be a fight here. We came to help. The Wall remembers what you did. We will not leave you to fight by yourself this time." The men smiled.

"Well thanks, but for now, I'll need you boys to bunker in. Hold the line here, alright?" James asked.

"Yes, sir." The men nodded in agreement before leaning against a concrete divider overlooking the open mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel.

"Wow…" Adam shook his head as the four headed closer to the darkened cave.

"What?" Carl asked, shifting his gatling laser into a more comfortable grip.

"I mean, it's easy to forget the Wall. After we liberated the place they immediately set up their own society and security force. They got it. There was no reason for us or any Regulators to check up on it. Sure, Francis made sure a team checked up on them regularly but they were their own stable society and we were needed elsewhere. Still, they were the group that won us our names…and the fame with it." Adam reminisced.

"That's ancient history." James chuckled.

"Wasn't enough explosions when we did it." Sven added.

"So what's the plan?" Carl asked, contemplating the open maw of the tunnel now that they were closer.

All four stood gazing into the encroaching darkness. Emergency lights did a poor job illuminating the interior of the tunnel. Most of the lights had been burning since they first went on, hooked up to an emergency power source some two hundred years ago. Nonetheless, the years had not been kind to the tunnel. All along inside cars were jammed nearly bumper to bumper harkening back to the dark days when the bombs fell as people sought to evacuate. The manmade cave had a rather dark reputation as some impromptu graveyard. Few travelers risked going through it; who knew when the interior would finally give way under the weight of the river and collapse? No one certainly wanted to be within the long passage when that happened. The few people who did venture inside told stories of countless bones and skeletons scattered among the tunnels, serving to be a reminder that it was a graveyard, a place where the living went to die.

"I honestly don't know. Hey, Delta!" Adam shouted, trying to get the Enclave agent's attention.

The agent did not reply, instead choosing to just walk up to them so that they could converse comfortably.

"What's the situation? Did your bosses give you a plan to tackle here?" Adam inquired.

"Shamrock squad is leading the creature towards us. Technicians have already set up the bombs. Other than that, you four are the plan." Delta Sierra shrugged.

"Wait, there are people in there?" James demanded.

"Yes, mostly ahead of the creature, but the radio traffic suggests things are getting a bit more tense in there." Delta Sierra explained.

Epsilon Nu, who had been silent until now, suddenly made an announcement.

"The creature is gathering strength from the bones it is picking up along the tunnel. It is angry…it knows it is in a bad situation." The woman explained, a hand to her head as her eyes were closed in concentration.

"What would you suggest, agent?" Delta Sierra asked.

"I am actively trying to disrupt the creature's mental abilities. If it so much as reads the minds of any of the people in there, it will know it has stumbled into a trap. That cannot occur. These four want to save lives. If that is their goal…they must hurry. I cannot do this alone." Epsilon Nu admitted.

"Very well. There's your answer. If you want to save the lives of those inside, you're going to have to go into the mouth of hell itself. Honestly though, I don't think there's anyone more qualified to do so." Delta Sierra shrugged.

The Liberators all cast solemn glances at each other before a noticeable, if silent, consent came upon all of them.

"Ready, men?" Adam asked.

"It's hammer time." Carl grinned mischievously.

"High velocity and long range justice? I'm your man." James nodded.

"There is a distinct lack of fire here. I can fix that!" Sven announced.

"Not until we've cleared everyone out of the cave, Sven." Adam reminded.

"…Okay." Sven grumbled.

And then the Liberators charged into the mouth of hell.

* * *

The Carbide Tempest and the Iron Storm troopers had been charged with holding the very mouth of the New York side of the tunnel. In the dim light of the interior, they must have looked like any other Brotherhood of Steel knights. The Liberators paid them no heed when they charged past, simply trotting forward at a steady but marked pace. Still, it was too quick for Evelyn to register her dad and family friends at first. Too late did she realize what happened before she could react.

Another lost opportunity.

She wanted to call out. She wanted to stop her dad. He and his friends were getting too old for this. The creature nearly killed them when they were in their prime twenty years ago. Now, a newer and presumably improved creature was wrecking havoc further in the cave. The Liberators meanwhile had gotten twenty years older and had the battle scars and injuries that came along with it.

A lifetime of sacrifice.

They say the measure of a person can be weighed in the choices they make. Those choices are a litany not only of deeds but also of sacrifices. The measure of a man cannot be narrowed down to his accomplishments but also the adversity that he faced and defied. The deeds speak of that which he was willing to do, that which he was willing to believe. The sacrifices tell of what he valued most dearly.

At the foundation of where all these decisions are made are their beliefs, for what a man or woman believes ultimately shapes what they will do.

No greatest fight is this, than the fight for one's beliefs. No greater marathon is this, than the race run for one's convictions. No greater respect is given than for one who keeps their faith.

Because sometimes, the belief that good will triumph over evil is all that is needed to charge into the nightmarish depths of hell.

* * *

Every member of Shamrock squad understood two things. One, they had to keep running lest they get smothered by whatever it was behind them. Two, they had to be so stimmed out of their mind from the chems they've been pumping to keep running that they would either die of a burst heart or they were going to be in a new level of torment tomorrow.

Provided they survived, of course.

"Come on lad, come on, can't be much further!" the captain panted hard.

"Captain, are those lights we're seeing? I mean like real lights? Someone tell me I ain't dying." The sergeant said.

"No, I'm seeing those lights too, sergeant!" A private shouted.

"Wait, are those Brotherhood lads?" another private asked, noticing the shadows cast by the lights.

"Oh bugger, this is going to be a problem. Everyone up there, get running! We got the monster right behind us!" the captain hollered.

The sounds of panic could now be heard over the sound of metal boots crunching brittle bone underfoot.

* * *

Evelyn glanced over to see Delta Sierra and Epsilon Nu stepping up to the threshold of the tunnel. Epsilon Nu had removed her helmet, revealing herself to be a beautiful young woman with long black hair though she wore a hard countenance that seemed to radiate an icy coldness. Evelyn could not have known that that Epsilon Nu was the genetic copy of the girl from whom she got her namesake. Nonetheless, it did not matter. Her father and family friends were deeper in the manmade cave.

However she was stuck out here.

"Are you getting anything?" Delta Sierra casually asked Epsilon Nu, lighting a cigarette as he did.

Epsilon Nu closed her eyes in concentration and reached her hand out as if trying to grasp something just out of her reach.

"The creature is gathering strength. It has sensed the Knights and technicians down there…it knows…it knows the Liberators are coming." Epsilon Nu read.

"Can you do anything about it?" Delta Sierra asked.

"I'm subtly trying to interfere with its movements. It is hard to do so without it noticing." Epsilon Nu grumbled.

"Wait, it knows my dad is coming to it? Can't you do something about that?" Evelyn demanded, breaking out of her disciplined silence.

"I'm trying to concentrate." Epsilon Nu snapped.

"Please, let the young lady do her thing and let your dad do his thing." Delta Sierra mumbled.

* * *

The captain of Shamrock squad understood that he had probably reached the end of the line. Every muscle in his system, despite the flood of chems, was screaming for him to stop. His breathing was ragged, his limbs felt like lead. His head was on fire and his heart was trembling. If he felt this bad he was bewildered at how the rest of his squad had survived as well. Then again, it was doubtful any of them would last much longer.

Chancing a glance behind him, he finally got a good look at the monstrosity that was chasing them. He might as well had been looking straight into a nightmare. He would have considered it a safe bet that even the dark princes of hell would have flinched at the sight of it.

The creature had formed an eerie carapace of bones along its front side as its fleshy mass of pink and red lumbered forward engulfing all in its path. Long, sickly tendrils composed mostly of bone, vertebrae, angry red veins and muscle protruded out of its front like a collection of disgusting whiskers, all of them ending with some terrible bone weapon of some sort. Some of them ended with the blunt end of a femur or the edged surface of a shoulder blade. Others even made use of the jagged end of a broken bone or even what was left of a deathclaw's hand.

It was nearly upon him.

And then a flurry of laser blasts and small explosives crashed into the creature, slowing its movements. The few of the centaurs left that had always been hounding them suddenly had knives erupt into their faces. Some of the more menacing tendrils coming from the creature spontaneous snapped in half from high caliber rounds that barely made a sound despite being fired.

"You boys better stop panting and better start running. We can't hold the line completely." A giant man wielding a gatling laser announced over the noise.

"And be sure to warn the others not to fall behind." The sniper added, adeptly loading another clip into his rifle.

The Regulator who was busy throwing daggers and firing his silenced pistol barely nodded at them as they passed. Meanwhile, their explosives expert, a man masked by a heavy blast helmet, did nothing but laugh maniacally as he sent missiles into the monster.

Shamrock squad caught their second wind and rushed closer to the exit, leaving the four Regulators to buy them time.

The Liberators meanwhile had taken their stand on the crushed roof of an old car, having discovered some time ago it was easier to traverse the tunnel on the car wrecks rather than trying to weave through them.

"You know, I actually have a good feeling about this." Carl announced over the roar of his gatling laser.

Sven was simply cackling as he fired missiles into the bony carapace, opening holes for Carl's instrument of destruction to pierce into the creature's weaker sub-dermis.

"Focus, gentlemen. Concentrate until and only until this is finished." James said, sniping one of the centaurs before it could get too close to them.

"Heads up!" Adam warned as one of the skeletal tendrils whiplashed towards them until Adam cleaved it in half with his sword at the right moment.

"Important question, frag grenades or plasma grenades?" Sven asked out of the blue, digging into his pack.

"Does it matter?" Adam snapped, savagely hacking into another centaur.

"Good point! Why do either when you can have both? What madness was I asking!" Sven cried.

A fury of concussive shrapnel and boiling plasma soon erupted all over the creature.

"That has to hurt. Okay, now is our cue to fall back." Adam announced.

The four men moved in unison, fluidly moving from car wreck to car wreck. As one of them moved, the others would watch their backs. In so doing, they were able to harass the monster as they made their retreat.

Nonetheless, it was probably the only good thing they had going for them.

The air was thick with the macabre smell of blood and decay. They could see the bones that littered the floor being engulfed and then assimilated into the gooey flood of muscle, blood and veins. Periodically the breaks that they inflicted into the monster's hide would be replaced by the fresh bone the creature collected.

"Uh guys, I got a problem." Sven suddenly announced as they skipped over to another car wreck.

"Now is a bad time to have a problem, Sven." Adam growled.

"I'm out of missiles…and I think I'm running low on grenades." Sven admitted nervously.

"You? Out of explosives?" James demanded incredulously.

"I know, it's killing me too." Sven complained.

"It just might kill us too. Literally." Adam grumbled.

"This never happens. Surely, you got more of the good stuff in there." Carl commented.

"Oh sure, I got the ever popular atomic stuff in here. Problem is, if I do launch one of those, we'll all die laughing. Okay, I'll die laughing, not sure about you guys." Sven shrugged as he hit a centaur over the head with his warhammer.

"Fine, burn the thing. Just don't hit the cars." James snapped.

"Hahahahaha, yes! Liquid happy in enlightening form!" Sven cackled maniacally.

"_**You fools!" **_a deep, eerie, guttural voice growled. Even more disturbing was that instead of actually hearing it with their ears, it felt more like it was being broadcasted at full volume in their heads.

"Oh…shoot." Adam sputtered.

"_**Do you think you can turn the tide against human nature? Can you four, flawed, insignificant, fumbling beings even expect to protect the helpless forever? You will die one day! The outcome is inevitable! You will die and evils of man will continue!" **_the beast boomed.

For a moment, the Liberators did not respond, too caught up in the shock of what just happened as they continued to retreat at a desperate pace.

"Aw, screw you." Adam blurted.

"_**You are a minority, the march of history is an endless litany of the incompetence and follies of man! All four of you have done your part to contribute to the evils!" **_

"You know what the difference is? We're not monsters! We're standing up to fight for the good!" Carl roared, taking the time to take another concentrated blast at the abomination.

"_**Death will take you all! I will take you all! The deeds you do will all be swept away! Your examples will be swept away by the march of time forever overshadowed by the evil of the atomic cleansing that marred your world!" **_

"But all that matters today is that we do the right thing and kill you." James snarled.

A skeletal tendril whipped in his direction. Moving too fast for anyone to do anything, James raised his arm to stop the incoming attack. Too late they noticed the sharp, bony edges of the tendril.

There was the sound of fabric tearing and then a metallic bang.

"I'm not falling for that one again!" James shouted, his prosthetic holding the tendril back just before his machete sliced it off from the rest of the monster.

"_**You are all foolish, misguided-"**_

"Lalalalalalala! Hahahahahaha, can't hear you over the sound of how happy I am!" Sven gibbered as a new rain of fire showered from his incinerator and onto the monster.

The napalm was apparently doing a better job this time.

The tunnel violently shuddered as the creature let out a deep, enraged roar.

The Liberators were thrown from the car hood they were standing on, each collapsing painfully onto the asphalt and bone that lined the floor of the tunnel. Just as Adam, Carl, Sven and James were picking themselves up, they noticed water sprays starting to sprinkle down from the ceiling.

"Crap." James snapped.

Come on, men! It's time we got out of here!" Adam yelled.

Behind them, the monster seemed to learn a new trick. Pustules began to form within the cracks of its bony shell. Grotesquely swelling up, they began to burst with the sickening sound of erupting body fluids. Unfortunately, each boil also propelled a bony shard a high speed.

_CLANG! PING!_

"Shoot, shoot, keep running, keep running!" James snarled, urging all of them forward as the four navigated the car wrecks amidst hostile projectiles, falling water and discarded skeletons.

"Move, move!" Adam shouted.

They suddenly noticed Sven double over, coughing heavily into his helmet.

* * *

Outside the Lincoln Tunnel, the elite Brotherhood Knights stood with Delta Sierra and Epsilon Nu. At first, all of them were staring into the tunnel with grim anticipation, wondering what the final outcome would be. At first, Epsilon Nu was simply massaging her temples with the tip of her fingers but eventually she was lightly clutching her head, her countenance suggesting that she was delving deeper into concentration.

What really shook them up was when the guttural roar of the creature boomed out of the tunnel.

"What was that?" Paladin Rufus demanded.

"Nothing good." Knight Birns muttered, shouldering his sniper rifle.

"Mrrnnggg…" Epsilon Nu suddenly groaned, falling to her knees as her closed eyes clenched harder shut.

"What's going on?" Delta Sierra demanded.

"Let me concentrate." Epsilon Nu growled.

Evelyn decided now was a good time to get very concerned.

"What's going on? Did anything happen to my dad?" Evelyn inquired with rising fear.

"I said shut up and let me concentrate!" Epsilon Nu shouted.

"Report, agent, that's an order!" Delta Sierra barked.

Epsilon Nu opened her angry eyes which were criss-crossed with crimson red veins.

"The Liberators are still alive. For now. The tunnel has been breached, water is leaking into the cave. The monster has detected my presence. It is angry." Epsilon Nu snarled before bringing her full psychic focus back to the creature.

With conflicting information, Evelyn ground her teeth, torn between her duty and the burning desire to order her squad into the tunnel to bring aide to her dad.

Delta Sierra did not hesitate upon hearing the news.

"All hands, I repeat, all hands, form up here on the New York side. I want all guns pointed and ready should anything not wearing a duster come out of that hole." The Enclave agent ordered into his radio.

Immediately, Brotherhood and Enclave power troops alike shouldered their rifles and pointed them in the direction of the gaping hole. Following their examples, all other militia and non-affiliated gunmen also joined in if a little uncertain. They did not have a radio with the universal channel.

"Bring up that battle walker as well. I want everything and everyone in position _now_!" Delta Sierra barked.

The ground shook for a moment as the towering machine of war purposefully strolled into its place, every one of its guns aligned to maximize its forward damage.

"Phlegyas combat system in position and awaiting orders." The mechanical war god announced.

"What about my dad? Shouldn't we send at least one squad to help them?" Evelyn demanded.

Delta Sierra ignored her.

"Pilots Uriel and Michael, blow up the Jersey side of the tunnel. We have to make sure it doesn't have any other way to go." Delta Sierra ordered.

"_Roger that, Agent. War birds carrying out orders now." _The pilots transmitted.

Across the river, two vertibirds unleashed a salvo of laser fire and missile barrages until a solid heap of concrete and debris had blocked off the New Jersey end of the tunnel.

"I need all squads _here_, Knight Captain. You have your orders." Delta Sierra finally told Evelyn.

Infuriated, Evelyn continued to mull over in her mind what exactly all her options were.

"Your dad, the Liberators, are the only people to fight something like this and come out alive. Remember that." Delta Sierra said to Evelyn, this time more softly and there was a tone of sympathy in his voice.

It didn't make her feel that much better.

* * *

"Oh come on, Sven!" Carl boomed, swooping down and tossing Sven over his shoulder in one motion.

Still coughing, Sven instinctively pulled the release mechanism on his backpack, dropping the heavy bag of explosives onto the floor to lighten the load.

"There, **cough**, have a gift! **Cough,** **cough**." Sven snapped at the monster.

"Move, move!" Adam goaded, glancing behind him to fling another dagger at a tendril he found a little too menacing.

And then his foot hit some unknown debris the wrong way.

"Oof!" Adam let out as he hit the dark floor with a heavy thud.

He scarcely had time to panic when he felt James' mechanical prosthetic lift him upright.

"Come on, lets- Aaaaarrrggghhh!" James screamed, feeling a stabbing pain shoot into his thigh.

The monster was still spitting out those projectiles.

"James, don't fall on me!" Adam shouted.

"Wasn't counting on it." James grunted, slamming a stimpack and then Med-X into his thigh. It would have to do for the moment.

"Keep your head down, keep behind the wrecks." Carl warned as the four limped and stumbled through cobblestone road of bones while spikes fired over their heads.

The Liberators hurried on, praying to see the faint light that would show they were getting closer to the exit while trying to keep a healthy distance between them and the monster. They had gone down there to buy the explosive technicians and the Enclave squad safety to evacuate but now there was none to save them.

They could no longer fight back, they only had the option of running. Adam was giving support for James who was hobbling along with a wounded leg. The pain was starting to bite more painfully with every minute that passed. Sven realized that his lungs had finally had enough and there was no way he was going to run on his own. Carl was doing an excellent job shouldering his weight but how long could the giant keep it up?

Was this their final mission?

* * *

Epsilon Nu massaged her scalp that was hidden under the blanket of her raven dark hair. She was unaware of the blood that was starting to trickle from her nose, all of her concentration was within her own mind. The life of someone with the powerful mental abilities she had was very much different than what normal people went through. It also meant she was subject to completely different feelings and sensations.

The overpowering mind of sheer malevolence trying to take over hers was an agonizing and frightening experience. It was like having an intruding soul pressing within her own body.

"_Get out of my head, get out of my head! You will die!" _Epsilon Nu snarled.

"_**Foolish, stupid, girl. Can you hope to stop the tide that is my power? All will fall before me. Ever since man first decided to act on selfishness, whether in ignorance or in malice, I have been. I am so deeply embedded in human nature you all are powerless to stop me." **_the monster thundered in her head.

"_I will beat you, you will be defeated, you will be defeated, I will not allow you to win!" _Epsilon Nu protested.

"_**You are no different than I, you know your superiors are no greater than I. Come, would it not be easier to lie down now and let the inevitable happen?" **_

"_I am no saint but you are a corruption!" _

"_**You will die, you are worthless!" **_

"_Get. Out. Of. My. Head!" _

* * *

Delta Sierra ignored the agony that Epsilon Nu was apparently in. This was not the first time he had worked with her. He had learned some time ago that it was better to leave the unpredictable mental powers to those who in fact possessed them. He doubted it was something he or any other scientist in the Enclave would truly understand.

Still, it was hard ignoring the small trickle of red dripping from Epsilon Nu's nose.

He heard movement.

The soldiers holding the line all shouldered and sighted their firearms with one accord. While most were certain they were hearing footsteps, footsteps that meant that their allies were returning, none could tell if something less friendly would be hot on their tails.

First it was Brotherhood knights, then Enclave bomb technicians started appearing. While all of them were winded, none of them wasted time getting behind the fire lines and fortifications. Delta Sierra did not give any respite to the bomb technicians, instead ordering them to tend to the explosives that were set at the tunnel's entrance. They were hoping to collapse both ends of the tunnel before blowing up the entire length of it.

"Are there any more down there?" Delta Sierra demanded a passing technician.

"Aye, I think there's just four more down there." a panting, heavily accented voice answered him.

Delta Sierra looked up to see a power armored captain shepherding his squad with the rest of the soldiers.

"Report, soldier." Delta Sierra ordered, stepping up to the man.

"Captain O'Ferrall of Shamrock Squad. We sighted the ugly ghoulie on the Jersey side and led it in. My men and I were running out of steam when a Regulator squad showed up and actually started fighting the monster." Captain O'Ferrall explained.

"Are they still alive? Were they right behind you?" Evelyn demanded, suddenly animated by the news.

"I'd sure hope they're alive. They actually got the monster to slow down a bit. From I heard, even sounded like they were actually giving it what for." O'Ferrall shrugged.

"Those were the Liberators." Delta Sierra said simply.

"Ye know, I should have seen that one coming." O'Ferrall admitted.

No one noticed Evelyn edging closer to the tunnel's entrance save for a select few of the Brotherhood Knights.

"Uh, Knight Captain, what are you doing?" Initiate Hardings asked.

"Carbide Tempest, I am ordering you to hold your ground. Understood?" Evelyn demanded into her ear piece.

"Understood, ma'am." Knight Birns replied.

And before anyone could say anything, Evelyn had rushed headlong into the dark.

* * *

They were running out of steam. Carl was in a labored marathon, eyes focused hard ahead oblivious to all else. It was clear that the burden of carrying Sven was starting to take its toll. Adam also found himself needing to tug more on James, who was feeling the barb in his leg becoming more and more intolerable.

"Couldn't you shoot yourself up with another Med-X?" Adam demanded, dodging another hurled barb in a nick of time.

"It's not that anymore. It's interfering with my leg muscle. Sure, I can numb it but then I'll rip all the muscle fiber and then no matter what I do there will be no more running for me." James admitted.

"I guess hobbling is better than not running." Adam muttered.

"Either way... it doesn't look good for us." James said quietly, glancing back.

They weren't sure why the monster was going at the slow pace that it was. There was nothing they knew of that was holding it back. They had seen it moving faster before so this slower pace did not make sense to them.

Other than the fact that they were out of breath, they also did not bring it up because they knew it was the only thing that was keeping them alive.

"Sven, you still with me, buddy?" Carl gasped.

All he got was a creaking, wheezy croak.

"Doc, I think he's having trouble breathing." Carl called back.

"I can't treat here. We need to get out of this tunnel or we're all dead." James replied.

"Man, I wish I could at least shoot back or something. I never wanted to die running." Adam growled.

"Just keep moving!" James groaned through the pain in his leg.

"Argh...my knee!" Carl suddenly shouted.

The extra weight was putting too much stress on where his joint met his unyielding prosthetic leg. For awhile Carl tried to soldier on but it was becoming clear that the years had been unforgiving on all of them. It was physically impossible to carry on like he was.

"Sven...Sven, I can't do this!" Carl gasped, tears starting to fall down his cheeks as he placed the pyromaniac on the ground..

"No...no, problem. Wish I could have had an explosion first." Sven wheezed.

"No, we're all getting out of here!" James protested, shoving Adam in Sven's direction.

Adam rushed over and started dragging Sven along, unable to carry his full weight. Carl meanwhile slowed down to help keep James up. Onward the sorry group pressed, Adam dragging the incapacitated Sven while James and Carl hobbled closely behind.

They were losing the fight.

"We're...dead, you know that?" Sven coughed.

From the way Adam was dragging him, Sven had a clear view to watch behind them. The creature was clearly getting closer to them.

James just groaned, too exhausted to argue anymore.

"Guys, is that you?" a voice suddenly chimed in.

The Liberators looked up to see a lone, fully armored Brotherhood Knight.

"You need to get out of here." Carl sputtered instinctively.

"Yeah, and so do you. You need to hurry because they plan to collapse the front section. We need plenty of space between us and that thing." the Brotherhood Knight explained, walking past Adam.

"Wrong way." Sven croaked.

"Wait, Evelyn, is that you?" James asked wearily.

"Yes, dad, it's me. What did you do to yourself?" Evelyn asked, not even letting him answer before picking him up and tossing him over her shoulder.

The look on James' face might have been a comical mix of surprise and confusion were it not for the severity of the present situation. It took a moment for him to remember that power armor tended to make a person more of a machine than just a heavily armored soldier.

"Come on, we need to hurry. Let's get you guys out of here." Evelyn encouraged, also walking faster to relieve Adam in dragging Sven along.

"Where are the others, Evelyn?" James asked.

"I went alone. The rest are waiting for us." Evelyn explained.

* * *

Those watching the Lincoln Tunnel spotted a sight that no one could have anticipated. A Brotherhood Knight was bearing the burden of two incapacitated Liberators while the other two looked like they had barely survived. Adam clearly had lost all but two of his daggers, the two that he never parted with. Carl, as he always did, wore a duster that was now shredded with holes and ripped fabric while his armor bore the signs of all the projectiles that had struck him but did not puncture the metal. Evelyn set James and Sven down, James still clutching his Excelsior rifle while Sven had abandoned everything save his shotgun and dual launcher.

And his remote detonator.

As James was propped up up against a concrete divider, he immediately set to looking over Sven.

"What's going on, buddy?" James asked, fighting the breathing mask off of Sven.

Sven responded by another fit of coughing from the shock of unfiltered air. James also spotted a few flecks of blood lining Sven's mouth.

But the red, flashing glow coming from his wrist was the one calling to his attention the most.

James hurriedly undid the cloth hiding the Pip-Boy and immediately pulled up a detailed diagnostic of what the machine was warning about. Sven's reaction was otherwise unchanging. Despite his labored breathing, he remained expressionless when James met his gaze again.

There was nothing to be said, there was nothing James could do. In the wasteland, lung cancer is a death sentence.

James could only give Sven some Med-X to deaden the pain before he tended to himself. Fishing into his bag, he found some tweezers before yanking the dagger like barb out of his thigh. Despite the pain, James quietly thanked God that the thing wasn't too viciously serrated as he closed up the wound.

"Close up that entrance, now! We have an all clear! Come on, what are you waiting for!" Delta Sierra shouted at the technicians. The agent had been irate for the past minute, ever since the Liberators had left the tunnel.

Epsilon Nu was still screaming in anger and agony, clutching her head as she knelt on the ground. In fact, she was completely oblivious when the technicians called out the warning and collapsed the tunnel entrance.

"Alright, detonate it." Delta Sierra told the bomb team.

There was no response.

"What are you waiting for, hit it!" Delta Sierra snapped.

"We've hit the button numerous times, sir. It's not responding." one of the men reported.

"Are you kidding me?" Delta Sierra screeched.

"Sven, tell me you have something." Adam asked, overhearing the whole problem.

Unceremoniously, Sven hit the detonator to his pack. He was met with overwhelming silence.

"How is it that all of the detonators have failed? Why does this _keep_ happening?" Adam shouted in bewilderment.

"It's blocking all radio transmissions as well as trying to get in my head! It's going to escape through the cracks in the tunnel and into the Hudson if you don't stop it!" Epsilon Nu screamed.

"But we can't manually detonate a car or something, you just collapsed the tunnels!" Adam protested.

Delta Sierra let out a curse.

"What do we do?" Evelyn asked quietly.

Silently, James crossed himself.

* * *

Still lost in her own mind in the mental spar with the monster, Epsilon Nu was unaware that her eyes had become blood shot and a large stain of crimson had been left on the front of her armor from her nose. By now, both she and the creature were too exhausted to trade coherent words, it was just a clash of wills.

Symbolically, the river of flesh, muscle and bone represented all that was wrong with humanity. Greed, selfishness and malice ran rampant in the world before the Great War. Vices and fears encouraged the production of horrific weapons, monstrous experiments and the arming of a global, nuclear war. The atomic cleansing never addressed these issues, it only laid them bare with blunt honesty. The monster was simply another holdover from that old world, along with the weapons and ruins.

The thing about evil is that it is a corruption. Evil can run rampant with such terrible and destructive force, threatening to consume all in its path. It can start small and simple but it also revels with overpowering volume. There is no denying that evil is destructive.

And it is there that good finds a welcomed escape.

By its own nature, evil has a tendency to destroy itself.

No one knows whether it was luck, the smile of fortune, the alignment of astronomical probabilities or divine intervention. People will believe what they want to believe. What is certain is that while the evil mass writhed and fought within its imposed tomb, it accidentally knocked one of Sven's explosives that was sitting benignly in his abandoned pack.

The explosive, made in the image of Sven's unstable nature, became armed in the tumble.

A chain reaction occurred.

The whole pack went up in an inferno of a concussive blast and a lethal detonation of fire and heat. This in turn was all that was needed to set off the other bombs, each of them in turn triggering the ones next to them. Each car wreck had a fusion reactor just waiting to go off. Each bomb was designed to obliterate all in its path.

That which sought to destroy became consumed itself in a blinding light and a conquering roar.

* * *

The rest of that evening might as well have been a dream. A massive blast erupted from the Hudson River as the tunnel below it rapidly exploded before collapsing under the weight of the waters. Enclave and Brotherhood soldiers found themselves cheering and celebrating together as it seemed a prayer had been answered from heaven. Vertibird flybys kept a momentary vigil but all knew that it was physically impossible for anything to survive such a violent catastrophe. As a great cloud of steam rose and slowly disappeared from the river, men and women from all sides were eager to thank the Liberators who once again had stepped into hell and made it pay for rearing its ugly head.

Finally calm, but utterly exhausted, Epsilon Nu was helped back into a vertibird by the pilot Athena and the ever stoic Delta Sierra. If he did want to have words with the Liberators, or anyone else, the Enclave agent hid it well.

As for the Liberators, they just wanted to go home.


	42. Chapter 42

**_Epilogue_**

It is written that even the greatest of deeds and heroes will one day be forgotten. Legends can hold for a long time but human memory is short and eventually even written history can sometimes fade. Nevertheless, the effects of deeds done still echo and ring down through the years. History is not always kind to its players but none can dispute what happened and what followed thereafter.

New York City, the original assignment of the Liberators, continued to grow and repopulate thanks to the haven provided by both the House and The Wall. Eventually, the two communities were able to link up and solidified their place as a great trading center that had always been the home of the caravans. Under Mark's leadership at the House, the Regulators continued to grow and expand. The caravans brought the news back to the growing city and when there was word of injustice afoot there was always a squad of Regulators ready to squash it.

Immediately after the incident, the Enclave gathered their troops and flew away in their vertibirds. They also saved any need for an awkward conversation with the Brotherhood by switching over to another radio channel, one that they would no longer share with the Brotherhood of Steel. Nonetheless, especially after working together for a few months and learning about each others methods, neither side could find a reason to continue fighting each other. Brotherhood patrols no longer operated on a "shoot on sight" policy whenever they spotted any Enclave activity within the City area. Even then, the Enclave made sure to minimize any opportunity for the Brotherhood to spot them.

Instead, having gathered more than enough information about the New England area, the remnants of the Atlantic Fleet Enclave began to look towards unclaimed areas closer to home within the New England area. Eventually, under the leadership of two certain Enclave agents, they were setting up bases and communities within former Connecticut.

The disaster as Albany broke the war machines of both Western Coalition and the Hierarchy. Initially, the caravans were at least relieved that they could continue north towards the Commonwealth without having to walk into the crossfire of a war. As the years continued, they soon discovered that both sides were having trouble rebuilding their forces and were obligated to do honest trading with the caravan merchants.

Out of respect for the Liberators, Warlord Yeohart no longer continued his expansion towards the Hudson or south towards Albany. Some forays were made west but eventually the warlord found that he was content with his little empire. Besides, it was also important to tend to the betterment of his people. Surprisingly, and with much irony, the raider warlord developed quite a rapport with the aging Liberators. There is even photographic evidence to confirm that the Warlord shared at least one poker game with the Liberators.

Eventually, especially at James' behest, the Warlord was able to work a more humane approach to slavery. Under a compromise, the Western Coalition began to introduce an indentured servitude system. Slaves were recognized to have important rights and had to be treated as free people under an alternative payment system. It was required that any indentured servant always had the right to be made officially free. Even then, some willingly choose to live their whole lives as servants who were treated with respect.

The Hierarchy found itself embroiled in a chaotic political lockdown. Director Catherine Omedea ordered a full investigation and found the numerous problems lurking within her government system. Hierarchy Directors served for life and Catherine Omedea spent the rest of her career restructuring and re-writing the whole system. While their military strength was rebuilt, their aggressive expansions never returned under the Director's influence. Some pointed to this as a verification that it was her war hawk son that was the mastermind behind all of their expansive campaigns. Still, there were rumors that also pointed to yet another reason. Some told the stories of a Brotherhood of Steel courier who demanded an audience with the Director. No one got the official story about what was said between the Brotherhood messenger and the Hierarchy's leader but very soon rumors started to spread that Catherine Omedea found out that she in fact had a grandchild in southern New York. The mother, through the messenger, had made it clear that any hostile action against Albany or New York City could easily be a danger to the Director's descendent who would have no knowledge of their true past.

The people of the Nation quickly packed their stuff immediately after the battle at Albany was over and returned to their native homes. They managed to continue a peaceful existence between the Western Coalition and Regulator city states of Albany and New York. Eventually, some of their hunters began to join the ranks of the Regulators in the example of one of their very own. They brought yet another colorful spin to the growing Regulators. They quickly won the reputation for being hardy survivalists and many of the Nation's Hunters were widely sought after, even if they could only get one Hunter per squad. Many of the other Regulators considered their presence a sign of good luck. Indeed, a squad with a Hunter in it had a tendency of surviving situations most other squads would not have.

–

Lab 18 continued their cordial relationship with the New York Regulators. Eventually, Lab 18 developed a new line of composite armor, combining the durability of power armor and the light weight, low tech accessibility of regular armor for the olive coated Regulators. Of course, the coveted armor came at a hefty price but Regulators had no problem saving up to invest in something that could easily save their lives many times over. However, even with the armor, they still held on to their dusters.

–

Evelyn continued to lead the Carbide Tempest until she found out that she was with child. Initially the news was devastating but the woman had inherited her father's love for poetic irony. She decided to raise the child as her own, instilling good virtues and guidance on how to live an exemplary life. She continued her work with the Brotherhood even though she no longer served within the front line troops. At one point, she would hold the rank of Elder which brought no shortage of pride to her mother.

Isaac remained with the newly formed Spike Dog squad which also officially accepted Suda within their ranks when she decided to become a Regulator. The Spike Dogs became a legendary sight with the Empire State area, the spines of their prickly mascot stitched into their coats making them unmistakable. Eventually, when the term "Liberator" was becoming an official rank given to veteran Regulator squads of renown prowess, the Spike Dogs were one of the first to whom the term was bestowed. However, the honor of being the first squad to earn that title, beyond the original Liberators of course, was The Boys.

Sarah continued her work in her newly rebuilt workshop that she shared with the explosives shop. Asimov offered to construct her her own space but Sarah enjoyed the company and sights of people working on things that was not science. She was able to introduce filtration techniques to purify the water as well as the soil of radioactive and other hazardous material. However, she was most pleased when she was finally able to get Isaac's attention. He proposed to her a year later.

Claire returned to Albany some time after the Spike Dog's trek into the Capital Wasteland. By now, Claire had decided she was tired of the dangerous life she had led. In time, she was able to come to friendly terms with Isaac and eventually Suda. All of them remained friends in the coming years.

New York rats started to crop up in other communities. Eventually, the term no longer really applied to large rodent that lived within the City area. Always in small groups, the rats tended to keep to themselves and out of trouble even though people found that they could easily become delightful pets. Old wives tale started to spring up that if a child left out a snack and made a wish, a large rat that accepted the gift would do everything in its power to make the child's wish come true. They also said that a teddy bear left for the child was the rat's way of leaving something if it could not make the original wish into a reality.

No one is quite sure how such silly tales started.

Asimov remained the go to robot for anyone needing repairs around Albany. When the robot wasn't working away in the manufacturing plant he was busy bumbling off on odd jobs and visiting friends around the town. He also made sure to keep Whiskers and Furious in line though the spike dog never lost his prickly temperament. No one expected anything different.

Poseidon spent his long life on the Hudson River, eventually taking command of the _Hammer_. Thankfully, he was glad when no one remembered of the incident where one of the guns was used against Albany. The ghoul did his best to protect his ship and his city until he eventually died peacefully of old age.

Eventually, the safe house in Albany became the city's courthouse as well as a major nerve center for New York Regulators. In time, one of the vaulties who was gifted with metallurgy and sculpture began to cast the images of important legends that had lived and served in the area. Sven's image was the first to grace the developing courthouse as he passed away several months after the incident. His last few months were spent recording techniques and teaching others all he knew about explosives and their assembly. However, he always made time for Cindy. Sven was not a man who fancied the idea of dying lying down. Some even said that it would have probably been best for the man to have sacrificed his own life and blown himself up in the tunnel. When Sven felt that his time was coming, he shuffled out onto the porch of his home and gazed up into the glow of the moon, quietly chuckling the whole time of years passed. He had Cindy to keep him company until he slipped away.

Cindy herself also earned a place, continuing to teach Sven's techniques as well as developing safer and more user friendly ones. (Some designs that Sven jotted down were never used, deemed too dangerous or "crazy.") She was considered one of the Regulators' best teachers and mentors for new recruits until her own death.

Adam slipped into a mild depression immediately after what transpired in New York City. This was mostly because he did not know what to do with himself even as he reminded himself that it was good that he kept his promise to Alexandra. He was quietly moping at the tavern one day when James simply tossed a book at him that would change his life forever.

The book was entitled "Banking and Economics."

Adam opened the first bank in Albany and was more than a happy manager. Some even said that the bank was never once robbed or cheated under his watch. Rumors also had it that those who tried to slip away with a little more caps than they deserved found that their pockets were in fact empty by the time they made it past the door. It was with this that Adam kept himself happy until he passed away. Alexandra carried on the business, deciding it was far easier than river trading until her own death.

Sufia, understandably tired after such a long journey, also turned in her duster shortly after the battle of Albany. She opened the first school there and taught the children the basics of reading, writing, history and mathematics. She also made sure to pass along important life lessons that she had learned by retelling the stories of her well traveled life. Having reconnected with her long lost daughter and having found a new trade she enjoyed, Sufia lived a long and happy life.

Julia continued in her role as Albany's administrator until she found the responsibilities too taxing. The former vault overseer, Frank Valdez, took over. Nonetheless, Julia's place was sealed as she became remembered as the mother of Albany and its first governor after being rebuilt. Having stepped down from her duties, she carried on taking care of the sick and needy until her diminishing fatigue could no longer sustain that in her twilight years. A stroke crippled her in her dying days and James was always by her side until the end.

James found less and less time to sit with a sniper rifle in one of the watch points and spent more time and effort in rebuilding a library and recovering old books. Eventually, he found himself balancing between sentry work, medical duties and his library hobby while making time for his personal life. Some felt that he was driven to preserving history because he wanted to keep his name clear, after all, some people had a point when they mentioned he may have had a hand in the incidents that led up to the battle of Albany. Nonetheless, James did not find time to brood on what they thought. He continued on with his life having found peace. When Julia passed away, it left him a heartbroken man, one that he never really recovered from. He passed away only a few short months after her.

Carl was the last surviving Liberator of the original four. The giant buried all of his friends as well as two wives. He also became lean and lanky in his older years until even he found it hard to believe that he once filled up his old armor and duster. Still, Carl did not become withdrawn and quiet in his final years. He had been able to spend many decades fishing and mirelurk hunting, that which he had always wanted to do. When the rigors of Mirelurk hunting became too dangerous for him, he became a famous sight as he was always at the docks, lending a hand where he could or simply calling out suggestions to the younger people. He passed away quietly one evening, the people found him still sitting in his chair at the docks, a smile forever etched on his face. It was no secret that he was always telling stories of past deeds and adventures to anyone who would hear and everyone decided that it was a safe bet that he had slipped away remembering the glory days.

All of their statues could be found around the Albany courthouse but one statue stands apart from them. The bearer of the image passed away only one month after the battle at Albany even though it was his vision that brought together the legends that stood around the building. Francis' statue is at the base of the steps and it looks out towards the river, close to where his body was buried as a Vertibird wing flew by all those years before.

If you visit his grave, you can rest under the shade of the tree.

–

There are those who believe that good will always triumph over evil. It is easy indeed for evil to proliferate and to cause no end of trouble. Still, it only takes a little good to stop the tide of destruction. It takes courage and sometimes no small amount of daring to stand up but even just one person can make the difference. It is a struggle that man has known throughout his history, just as history is a long litany of wars and strife.

War indeed never changes and this is why war must one day end in the triumph of good.

* * *

_Author's Note_

_Okay, give me a second here, this is kind of an emotional moment for me. _

_Wow, it's done. _

_Thanks to everyone who helped, reviewed and gave their two cents. You know who you are and your help has made this possible. All of you are just as much responsible for this trilogy. Dusters was originally meant to be a one shot, a stand alone story. Instead, I found myself writing a trilogy worth over several hundred pages and it was quite a journey. _

_I got a lot of ideas of where I want to go next. Truth be told, however, I think I need to take a breather. I got a lot of competing leads, not sure where I'll go next. It seems like every week an idea is screaming for my attention. Still, writing is a good form of leisure for me so if you want to keep updated on my works, either put me on your alert list or send me a message asking to keep you in mind whenever I post another story. _

_Blessings on all of you, there is little more I can say. _


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